Gemini
by Lauren779
Summary: When the bodies of two sisters are found, it is up to Beckett and Castle to unravel the sisters mystery to catch who killed them. Meanwhile, Beckett loses two important possessions, which makes Castle see a completely different side of the detective.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hey everyone. This is my first Castle fan fiction. It's like an episodic fic (that takes place between episodes) and this takes place in season 3 so Castle is with Gina, and Beckett is with Josh (but they aren't heavily involved). There is swordplay between Caskett. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and I will try to improve my writing.

Also, I do not live in New York, nor am I a doctor. Forgive my inaccuracies.

**Summary:** When the bodies of two sisters are found brutally murdered, it is up to Beckett and Castle to unravel the sisters mystery lives to catch who killed them, and why. Meanwhile, Beckett loses two important possessions, which makes Castle see a completely different side of the Detective.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING.

* * *

** CHAPTER ONE**

THE flashing red and blue lights of the two police cruisers lit up the night sky as Detective Kate Beckett pulled up her unmarked police car on the opposite side of the road.

Already, people had started to gather around the now blocked off crime scene, hoping to get a peak at what lay ahead - some taking pictures with their phones, no doubt planning on Twittering or Facebooking to their friends or followers at what they were seeing, or trying to see - while the officers tried their best to keep the curious, and often nosey, pedestrians at bay, who only stopped to stare because the daily routine of their mundane lives had been shaken up.

However, Kate knew all to well what laid beyond the yellow tape she hated so much. To her, it wasn't just a body that people were shoving themselves to get a picture of. It was so much more. It was a life, and now it would become a tragedy to the family and friends that knew the victim, and whose lives would never be the same again.

Getting out of her car, and shutting the door, she walked across the street, putting on the purplish latex gloves everyone who crossed the tape was required to wear, while pushing herself through the crowd of people. She flashed her badge to one of the officers who just nodded their head, and for a brief moment, as she held the yellow tape over her head, like many times before, she remembered that awful night ten years ago when her world was destroyed.

She shook off that sinking feeling in the bottom of her heart, as she fully crossed the threshold. No one would know, or could know, just how much her mother's murder had damaged her.

"Good evening, Beckett." She heard Castle say, who was suddenly now beside her with a tray of coffee in his hands. One cup for her, and one for him.

"Castle," She responded, in her usual way that was a mix of 'what are you doing here' and 'it's nice to see you', as she took the cup of coffee from him.

In the beginning of this Mayor-supported relationship that had Castle shadowing her on cases for the purpose of character inspiration for his next book, so he could write another hit series that would parallel his greatest hit, Derrick Storm (whom he had killed off in his last book), she resented his presence. To her, Richard Castle was like a nine-year old on a sugar rush, totally incapable of taking anything seriously. Now, after almost a year and half of working with him, she still thought he was a nine-year old on a constant sugar rush, but she found that she didn't resent his presence so much, and, embarrassingly, enjoyed his company.

"How is it that you always arrive at crime scenes faster then me?" Beckett asked as they made their way further into the secluded ally that was nestled between a Chinese Food Store and Joe's Pizza Place, both of which now were abandoned.

"I was in the area," Castle said as they stopped short in front Lanie Parrish, the Medical Examiner, who was overlooking two bodies, each with their backs exposed.

"There is two of them?" Beckett asked, exchanging looks between Castle, Esposito, Ryan and Lanie. "I thought the call was only for one homicide."

"While gathering for evidence, CSU found the other body in that dumpster," Ryan said, pointing to the one on the far left.

"And the homeless man who called this in, found this body in that dumpster," Esposito added, pointing to the one they were all standing in front of.

"It gets weirder," Lanie said for the first time that night.

"I like weird," Castle said, giddy-like.

"You ready?" Lanie asked, and the three detectives, plus Castle, nodded their heads as Lanie turned the bodies over.

"Twins?" Beckett asked, noticing the striking resemblance both girls shared.

"Looks like, but I won't know for sure until I do a DNA test."

"How about I.D.?" Beckett looked over at Ryan and Esposito.

"CSU found nothing, but the girls are dressed well, and they don't look homeless. Someone has got to be missing them," Esposito responded.

"I already have someone looking into missing person reports matching their description and age-range," Ryan added.

Beckett nodded her head, and then turned back to Lanie. "Any idea on the cause of death?"

"I can't say for sure until I do a full autopsy, but both girls were stabbed multiple times, and both have defensive wounds on their hands. Blood loss would definitely be a factor, and considering there is little blood at this crime scene, they were obviously dumped here."

Beckett nodded her head, and stepped away from Lanie. CSU was busy going over the whole ally, and aside from a homeless man, no one saw anything suspicious. In fact, this part of town was basically dead, with most shops out of business, and those who walked through this part of town never stayed long enough to notice anything anyway. This case, to her, was beginning to feel cold without even starting anything.

Castle had come up beside her again, trying to focus on what she was focusing on.

"This case feels like it's going to cause us trouble," Beckett commented, letting out a sigh, still staring out at nothing in particular.

"Yeah," Castle agreed, before turning to Beckett. "Double trouble." He gave a small smile, and Beckett, used to his inappropriate quips at crime scenes gave a small smile back.

"Go home, Castle. There isn't much more we can do tonight."

* * *

CASTLE shut and locked the door behind him, and quietly put his keys into what Martha, his mother, had called the 'So-we-aren't-running-around-the-house-like-chickens-with-their-heads-cut-off-bowl' bowl, that held keys, wallets, Alexis' bus pass, and sometimes, loose change. At first he didn't take to the idea, but after misplacing his keys in the refrigerator, washing/dryer machine, and God knows where else one-to-many times, knowing where his things were in case Beckett called him to be at a crime scene turned out to be a God send.

He walked into the kitchen and opened up the fridge, taking out a bottle of water. It was then, after he shut the fridge, that he noticed his mother was still up, sitting on the couch, in the dark.

"Mother, what are you doing?"

"Reliving my glory days."

Castle turned on the light, noticing old tapes scattered on the coffee table.

"Again? Isn't this like the third time this month?"

Martha only gave her son the look. "Laugh all you want, Richard. The truth is, I was in my prime back then. Now, not so much."

Castle, realizing his mother was hurting, put his bottle of water down and went over to the couch to sit with her.

"Tell me what happened," He said.

"It's silly," She responded, but Castle only pressed further. "I ran into Sheila today," She finally admitted through an exasperated sigh.

"Sheila? Since when do you take criticism from that two-bit bimbo and care about it?"

"Since she got cast in one of Broadway's most proclaimed new shows."

"That's what this is about? So she gets a chance at a _maybe_ proclaimed Broadway show - Mother, you've had several. She can't even hold a candle to what you've accomplished."

Martha smiled to herself. Richard always had a way of making her feel better, and she was truly appreciative that she had a son like him.

"Alexis sleeping?"

Martha nodded her head. "Poor girl fell asleep with a book in her hand studying for a biology test."

"Daughter isn't right," Castle said as he leaned his back on the couch, which caused Martha to laugh.

"Definitely nothing like you, or Meredith, for that matter."

Castle smiled at his mother, and then let out an exhausting sigh. He hadn't been at the crime scene long, but there was something about this crime scene that was tiring.

"Bad crime scene?" Martha asked, after a moment of quiet had passed between them.

"All crime scenes are bad," Castle said, while closing his eyes, sounding more like Beckett then himself.

"I imagine they are," Martha added quietly.

"Two sisters - twins. What are the odds to not only be born together on the same day, but die on it as well?"

Martha used her son's knee to help herself up from off the couch. "Goodnight, Richard."

"Night," He said as he watched her head up the stairs. He leaned over to shut the light off, and for a moment, he was the one now alone in the dark.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for the reviews . I apologize for the suck-ish writing. Hope you enjoy chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

BY the time Castle arrived at the Precinct the next morning, Beckett was already there, filling out known information about the case on the infamous Whiteboard.

"Find anything new?" Castle asked, setting down two cups of coffee, as Beckett just shook her head.

"So far, we still don't have any I.D.'s on our vics. Ryan put their pictures on the news early this morning, hoping someone will recognize them. CSU also didn't find much either."

Castle looked back at the Whiteboard again, hoping that evidence would just somehow magically appear to solve this case. However, the Whiteboard, so far, was just a puzzle box, with most of it's key pieces missing.

"Lanie's autopsy reports are in. I'm hoping that will answer more questions. Want to come?"

Castle nodded his head, and then followed Beckett all the way down to the Precinct's morgue, that he had always found eerily creepy in a cool way.

The metal doors to the autopsy room opened, and Beckett was the first one to step in, her eyes resting on the two bodies that were both covered in a white sheet on the autopsy table.

"I ran their finger prints through the system, no match for anyone," Lanie said from the opposite side of the room. She was holding a folder - the results of the autopsies. "But on the other side, DNA sample came back. They are definitely identical twins."

Castle didn't need a DNA test to know that. He could tell just by looking at them last night.

"Can you estimate their time of death?" Beckett asked, never getting the chance to last night.

"Homeless man reported them around 10pm, so they were probably killed sometime between 6-to-8pm."

"What about cause of death?" Castle asked.

"Both died from blood loss and asphyxiation from the multiple stab wounds. Twin A had 17 stabs, and Twin B had 19."

"So basically slowly and painfully," Beckett said, to which Lanie nodded.

"There is some good news though," Lanie began to say while walking over to the counter and grabbing two small Petri dishes, one labeled 'Twin A', the other 'Twin B'. "I can not only tell you what twin died first, but in Twin A ,I found a small sliver of metal that broke off, and in Twin B I found a larger sliver of metal, and they both match. They were killed by the same blade."

Beckett began to piece everything together in her mind. "The blade was starting to break by the time it went through Twin B."

Lanie nodded, and Castle asked if she knew what weapon had been used.

"By the shape and angle of the wounds, I would say a hunting knife. But not one that is too big or small."

"Something retractable," Castle added. It was more of an out-loud thought, but it made sense to both Beckett and Lanie.

"There was one thing I did find weird while I was doing the autopsy though," Lanie began to say. "I found some faint scarring."

"From surgery?" Beckett wondered.

"It's hard to tell," Lanie said, putting down the Petri dishes, and then made her way over to one of the sisters' body, Beckett and Castle following. She carefully lifted up the white sheet, exposing the girl's torso. She pointed to a faint scar, and then pulled down the magnifier so Beckett could take a look.

"Whatever it was from, it was well taken care of," Lanie added. "Her sister has the same faint scars too."

"Elizabeth and Jessica, what have you two been up to?" Castle asked to himself, causing Beckett to look up from the magnifier.

"Elizabeth and Jessica?" Beckett asked, as she and Lanie looked at Castle.

"Yeah you know, like the Wakefield sisters, Alexis loved those books..." Castle answered, his voice starting to trail.

"I know what Sweet Valley High is," Beckett said in an annoyed voice. "Their victims Castle, not characters in a story."

Realizing his faux pas, Castle backed off, just as Beckett's phone rang. While she answered, Castle looked at Lanie, and he couldn't tell if she was giving him the death stare or a look of utter annoyance. Luckily for him, their intense game of eye dueling came to a halt when Beckett got off the phone, stating the victims have been identified.

* * *

BECKETT was slightly taken aback by the beauty of the home that Ben and Holly Martin lived in. Their front entrance was the size of her apartment alone, and as the maid lead Castle and her into the Den, her eyes wandered to all the various, beautiful, and albeit pricey paintings, that made her feel like she was walking through an art gala instead of to the room where two grieving parents awaited them.

Ben and Holly stood up as Beckett and Castle walked in. Beckett noticed that Ben looked pale, and Holly was red from crying.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Martin, I am Detective Kate Beckett, and this is Richard Castle."

"Please, have a seat," Ben said, and when they did, Beckett pulled out two photos.

"I'm sorry for your loss, and I know this might be difficult, but "- Kate cut herself off. Might be difficult was an understatement. This was going to be difficult. "We have the autopsy photos. We need you to look at them to identify who is who."

Ben nodded his head and took the photos. A new series of sobs escaped from Holly.

"Th-That's Adria," Ben said, his hand shanking as he put one of the photos down on the table. "And this is Lara."

Beckett took the photos, writing the names down on the back of each one.

"I don't-I don't understand," Holly began to say, after her sobs had subsided. "Who would do this to our babies?"

"That's what we are trying to figure out. Do you know anyone who would want to hurt them?"

"God no," Ben said. "They were the nicest kids you could meet. I mean, they had their whole lives ahead of them, and to be cut short at 20 years old?"

"The Medical Examiner found some old and faint scars on them, do you have any idea how that got there?" Castle asked.

"We adopted Adria and Lara when they were four years old. Their biological parents died in a car accident. All we know from that point was that they were badly hurt in the accident," Ben expLanied.

"At the time, we had been trying to have kids of our own, but it wasn't going for us, so we looked into adoption. We went to an adoption agency and fell in love with them just by looking at their photo. They were our good luck charm. Eight years after we adopted them, I became pregnant for the first time, with our son, Thomas."

Beckett noticed Holly smile fondly at the memory, before a new wave of tears escaped her eyes.

"We truly are sorry for your loss, and we will do everything in our power to find those that did this," Beckett said with assurance in her voice that made Ben and Holly feel slightly comforted that their daughters murders wouldn't go unpunished.

"Anything we can do to help," Ben said.

"Adria and Lara's bodies were found in Brooklyn," Beckett began, and Holly and Ben exchanged confused looks.

"I don't know what they would be doing there. They hardly ever left Upper Manhattan." Holly said.

"We know that they weren't killed there, but rather their bodies were dumped..." Beckett paused when she saw Ben put his hand to his mouth, the same thing her father had done when the Detective had told them that his wife, and her mother had been murdered.

"Do you know if they went out at all yesterday? Met with friends?" Beckett continued.

"At 2:00pm they said they were going out," Holly began, remembering something in her mind. "I think they wanted to go shopping and see a movie. They said not to worry about dinner for them, that they would buy something to eat."

"By 9:00pm they still hadn't come home, and we thought maybe they went to see a late movie, but they weren't answering their cell phones," Ben continued and Beckett wrote cell phones on her note pad.

"I told Ben we should call the police. It just wasn't like them to be out that late without checking in," Holly added. "But he said they wouldn't do much because you have to wait twenty-four hours to report someone missing."

"So, Holly put Thomas to bed, and I said I would wait up for them. I must have fallen asleep on the couch, and the next thing I realize it's morning and they still aren't home."

"That's when we phoned and they told us that two young girls matching Adria and Lara's description were found dead last night," Holly said, beginning to cry again, and Ben grabbed her hand for support. "I'm sorry," She said, between tears.

"Could they have met with any friends from school?" Beckett asked again, and Ben sighed sadly.

"No, and that is our fault. We noticed after we adopted them that something wasn't right with them. It took them longer to understand things then normal kids. We didn't want to put them through school and have classmates laugh at them for falling behind," Ben said.

"We wanted to protect them, so we home schooled them throughout grade school and high school. We asked them if they wanted to attend University or a Community College, but they were apprehensive," Holly finished sadly.

"What we are trying to say is that they didn't have many friends. They were shy and mostly kept to themselves. They were never really outgoing, but we blame ourselves for that."

Beckett nodded her head. "Do you know what Mall they went to?"

"Manhattan Mall. They loved that place," Holly said sadly.

Beckett scribbled that down in her notebook, before closing it. "Do you have any pictures of Adria and Lara together that we can show around to see if anyone saw them yesterday?"

Ben wasted no time and pulled out his wallet. A line of pictures of him, his wife, Thomas and the twin girls fell down in a cascade of happiness. He pulled out a picture of Adria and Lara, his personal favorite, who were holding each other in a picture and laughing at something funny.

"Ben"- Holly began to say before he handed it over. "That's your favorite picture of them."

"I know, but I have others. The detectives need this more then I do."

Beckett took the photo, promising to take good care of it, and assuring them him that he will get it back. Both her and Castle apologized again for their loss, and thanked them for their time.

Ben decided to escort them out.

"You have a beautiful home," Castle said, while walking back to the main entrance.

"Thank-you," Ben replied. "We were living the dream. Now it's a nightmare. We still have to figure out how we are going to tell Thomas."

Beckett appreciated how hard this was on him. She wanted to say it gets easier, but that was a lie. This kind of grief will live with you, and in some cases eat you up - that she knew from experience.

"Their bodies," Ben said, when they were half way out the door. "We want to make plans for their funeral. Can they be released?"

"You'll have to phone the Medical Examiner's Office," Beckett said pulling out a card and handing it to him. "But I don't see that being a problem."

Ben nodded his head in thanks, and after one more 'we're sorry for your loss', he shut the door, and Beckett and Castle made their way down the stone steps back to the car.

Once they were settled in, Castle leaned back on the uncomfortable seat. He couldn't even imagine what Mr. and Mrs. Martin were going through, and the whole time he was watching the grieving parents, he couldn't help but think what if something like that had happened to Alexis.

Beckett turned to Castle. "You okay?"

Castle looked at Beckett, and gave her his half-a-million dollar smile. "I'm starving. Want to grab something to eat?"

Beckett smiled back. "The Manhattan Mall has a food court."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

THE mall, much to Beckett's disappointment, had been a bust. Aside from what Castle said was one of the best chicken Caesar wraps he had tasted, they went out of the mall knowing as much as they went in with. Beckett had hoped that they would get lucky in the American Eagle store, considering both girls were wearing the company's sweaters and jeans, but no one could definitively say they saw the girls yesterday in the store, or any time before. However, mall security had been kind enough to give them security tapes of the footage around all the main entrances and exits, and the camera footage by the food court. If Adria and Lara did go to the mall like they had said, they would see them, and hopefully see who they went, or left with.

Until then, they were still hitting dead ends. There was still a lot of missing puzzle pieces, the big one being where the sisters were actually murdered. If they had any chance of collecting evidence, it would be where the original crime took place, not where the bodies were dumped.

Castle was no stranger to Beckett's frustration. He often had the same look when he hit writer blocks. Finding the right words to describe a scene or an object, or even an interaction between characters was imperative to a good book. If the words were not there, or they felt incomplete, it could throw the whole story off, and ultimately things would get lost in the bigger picture.

"Can I ask you something?" Castle said, looking out the passenger window while he and Beckett were on their way back to the precinct.

"Okay..." Beckett said, thinking it was weird considering he never asked for permission.

"If you were by yourself, would you go to the mall with a purpose, or just to hang out?"

"Probably with a purpose of buying something. Otherwise there would be no point," Beckett answered. "But Adria and Lara went together, so they weren't alone."

"Would you, at twenty, go to the mall to hang out with your sister?" Castle asked, looking at Beckett.

"I don't know. I'm an only child. But you remember what their parents said, they didn't have much friends, so to them it would be normal to hang out together, especially if they were all each other had."

Castle leaned back into the uncomfortable seat. He had obviously thought that would have been the case too. But it just didn't make sense to him. Why would two girls continuously go to the mall by themselves if they weren't meeting someone.

"Entertain me for a second, will you?" Castle said, having troubles keeping the nagging thought from his mind. "If you were at the mall since two, and hypothetically were planning on seeing a late movie - say seven - what would you be doing for five hours?"

"Shopping. Maybe grab something to eat," Beckett answered.

"For five hours? I mean, I never under estimate how long women can spend in a single store, let alone a whole mall, but you've seen what Adria and Lara were wearing: everything from the sweater, to t-shirt, to jeans had come from the same, one store."

"I guess it would be odd for them not to walk in American Eagle, especially if they liked it so much," Beckett agreed.

"Exactly. So I'm thinking they spent their five hours with someone else. Someone they kept secret from their parents, and probably someone who killed them."

* * *

ESPOSITO rubbed his tiring eyes, as Ryan came back to their joint desks and placed a cup of coffee on it. They had been reviewing the security footage since Castle and Beckett had come back, and so far, they had only gotten through three of the five main entrances, with no sign of the twins.

Castle, who was sitting in a wheelie chair, pushed himself back, gliding across the bull pen floor, stopping short at Esposito and Ryan's desk.

"Found our Waldos' yet?" Castle joked, much to Ryan and Esposito's annoyance. Beckett had dumped the fun task of crowd surfing on the two male detectives, after she had found them both playing nickel soccer with each other.

"It's more like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego," Esposito sighed.

"But replace world with mall, and Carmen with Adria and Lara," Ryan added.

"On to entrance number four," Esposito said, while changing the camera view.

Castle looked at the screen, as time passed, and waves of people entered and exited, the majority of them women, and a lot of youth, but so far no twins. He made a mental reminder to ask his mother and Alexis, what the allure of the mall to women was, and how they could spend so much time - and so much of his money - in one place.

"Stop the camera," Ryan suddenly said, pointing his finger on the screen. The frame was now frozen, and Adria and Lara, were seen entering the mall.

"Did you find them?" Beckett asked from her desk, as Castle nodded. She got up and made her way over to Esposito's computer screen. At 2:10:08 pm, Adria and Lara entered the mall.

"Switch to the food court camera," Beckett added once she got a good look at the twins. Esposito complied, and they played the footage, all four of them keeping a watchful eye. Ten minutes later from the twins entrance at the mall, they were seen at the food court, both with drinks in their hands, making their way over to a table and sitting down.

And they weren't alone.

A male, around the same age as the twins sat down with them, he too having a drink in his hands.

The four of them watched, as the twins and they mystery man sat and talked. They all looked happy, and by 2:45:32 pm on the time stamp, they all got up simultaneously and left the food court.

"Checking the exits," Esposito said before Beckett could, and he pulled up all five of the exits simultaneously, each focusing on one camera view.

"Got 'em," Castle said, pointing to the camera view he was looking at.

"Looks like they are leaving together," Ryan commented, and by 2:50:01pm the three of them were completely out of the mall.

Castle looked up at Beckett, remembering what he had said earlier, and by the look on her face, she too remembered that same conversation.

For Beckett, anyway, this was as good as a lead as anything, and she was quite happy that the mall had not been a complete bust.

"Esposito; Ryan, I need a clear photo of our mystery guy. Tomorrow morning I'm going back to the Martins' to see if they know who he is."

* * *

CASTLE walked through the front door and smiled when he saw Alexis sitting on the kitchen island doing homework.

"Hey dad," She said, without looking up. "How was work today?"

"Same old, same old," Castle replied as he walked into the kitchen and opened up the fridge. "What are you working on?"

"Just biology homework...almost done..." She had a determined look on her face, and then suddenly smiled, while triumphantly closing her books.

"Any idea what's for dinner tonight?" She asked, and Castle turned to look at her. There was nothing in the fridge except for a package of chicken, a pepper and two zucchinis.

"I thought mother was supposed to go shopping," Castle said to Alexis, who only shrugged.

"I was, darling," Martha's voice rang out as she descended the stairs. "But an opportunity came up that I just couldn't pass up on."

"And what opportunity might this be?" Castle asked in a tone that was part interested and part condescending at the same time.

"Tell him, Grams," Alexis encouraged.

"I'm teaching an acting class!" She said excitedly.

"Your'e what?"

"An acting class, darling. Every Tuesday and Thursday night for a month."

"That's great mother, but how does this acting class job stop you from buying groceries that you said you would buy?"

"I'm getting to that," She said in her defense. "Before I got to the grocery store, I stopped at Broadway, hoping to run into Sheila to give her a piece of my mind - that her criticisms mean nothing. Instead, I found a job ad at a local studio. I went in impromptu, and one of the guys hiring recognized me from my work and hired me on the spot."

"Isn't that great, dad?" Alexis said.

"It is, and I am so-_so_ happy for you. But how does this impromptu job explain no groceries?"

"I had to go clothes shopping. I couldn't teach prospective actors and actresses in what I have now."

"Of course you did," Castle said turning his back to the fridge.

"I'll go shopping tomorrow - for groceries - I promise."

"It's fine, mother," Castle said as he opened the cupboard drawers, and pulling out a spice package. "It looks like we will be improvising for dinner tonight."


	4. Chapter 4

** CHAPTER 4**

THE sun was shining brightly as Beckett stepped out of her car, the mid - morning breeze brushing past her face as she made her way up to the Martin's front door. She had decided to do this alone, and Castle had understood, deciding to bother Esposito and Ryan until she came back to the precinct.

She rang the extravagant looking doorbell and waited for someone to open the door. Within moments, it swung open, and a very tired looking Ben Martin, was standing on the other side.

"Detective Beckett," He said, surprised to see her. "Come on in." He stepped aside.

"I'm sorry to bother you so early," Beckett began. "But I was wondering if you and your wife could look at something for me."

"Of course," Ben said, and then put his head toward the stairs. "Holly, Detective Beckett is here."

Holly appeared on the other side of the banister, and looked down. "Detective Beckett," she greeted. "Do you have any information on the case?"

"She wants us to look at something," Ben answered, as Holly made her way down the stairs. When she got closer, Beckett could see that Holly too, had looked emotionally exhausted.

Beckett pulled out a piece of paper from her jacket pocket and handed it to Ben. It was the clearest picture they could get of the mystery man.

"Do you know who that is? Does he look familiar to you?" Beckett asked, and watched as both Ben and Holly really looked at the photo - something no one ever did.

"No," Ben finally said, and turned to his wife who was also shaking her head. "I don't recognize him. Why?"

"He was seen with Adria and Lara at the mall," Beckett answered. "They were sharing a drink together. They looked like they have known each other for some time."

"They never mentioned anyone before," Holly said. "Why didn't they tell us?"

"This guy was the last one to see our girls, and we have no idea who he is, and he could have hurt them." Ben ran his hands through his hair.

"I assure you Mr. and Mrs. Martin, that we will do everything we can to identify this man, and bring their killer to justice," Beckett said.

"We appreciate it, we really do, it's just so...hard," Holly said with a sigh.

"I know the feeling," Beckett commented. She took the picture back from Ben, thanked them for their time, and headed back to her car, stopping only once to tell Ryan to get the picture of the mystery man out in the media. Now, it was just a waiting game.

* * *

RYAN carefully lined up his shot, taking everything from force and angle into account. There was a lot at stake if he missed, and he wasn't going to let his partner down. Eyeing the playing field, concentration in full gear, he wound up for the shot, preparing for the release -

"What are you doing?" Beckett's voice rang, throwing Ryan off, causing him to send the nickel to the far left from Castle's makeshift goal post hands. Castle clasped his hands together excitedly, as Esposito put his head down in disappointment.

"Come on, guys, that wasn't fair," Ryan began to say, completely ignoring Beckett. "She interrupted me."

"_She?_" Beckett said while crossing her arms.

"All is fair," Castle started to say. "Pay up."

"I'm gone for an hour tops, and you three resort to money-games?"

Esposito took out his wallet, placing a twenty on the desk by Castle, as Ryan did the same.

"You owe me, bro," Esposito said to Ryan, who threw his hands up in the air.

"It wasn't my fault," Ryan said.

"Ladies, can you two take your bickering else where? You are making Andrew Jackson very upset," Castle said, about to pick up the forty dollars he just won, when Beckett's hand landed on the money before he could reach it.

"Now, detective, isn't that robbing?" Castle joked.

"If by robbing you mean my patience, then yes, it is."

Castle just gave her a touché look, as she released her grip on the money. However, instead of collecting it, he gave it back to Esposito and Ryan. After all, he really didn't need it, and in all fairness, Ryan's last shot was interrupted. If he was going to take their money, it would be a game they all loved, in a neutral setting free from disturbances, with equal footing, and where the stakes were higher - poker.

"Okay," Castle said. "Poker. Saturday night. My place."

"In." Esposito said without hesitation.

"Me too," Ryan added.

"What about you Beckett?" Castle asked.

"I don't know, Castle. I usually have dinner with my father on Saturday's."

"Fair enough," Castle said. "What about you, Captain?"

Everyone turned to see Captain Roy Montgomery exit his office.

"Poker game?" Roy asked.

"Yep," Castle responded.

"Why not?" He said, before his conversation took a serious turn. "I was hoping you four could update me on this case."

"We have a lead, a young unidentified male. His picture is out in the media," Beckett said. "He could have been the last one to see them alive."

"The Commissioner is really breathing down my neck on this one. Apparently the Mayor is friends' with the Martins. They both go to the same golf club."

"We are doing everything we can sir," Beckett said.

"I know. But i have a press conference to attend. Wish me luck."

The Captain waved goodbye as he headed toward the elevator, leaving the four of them alone at the desk.

"Okay," Beckett said. "Let's run over what we know so far."

Ryan answered first. "Adria and Lara's bodies were dumped, and possibly killed using a hunting knife. ETA of death is around 6-8pm"

"They were at the mall, but not for more then an hour. And they left with a mystery guy," Esposito added.

"Couple that with the fact that they usually go to a movie, but this time they didn't," Castle finished.

"Still a lot of holes," Esposito commented.

"I think we are about to get some filled," Beckett suddenly said, looking toward the elevator as a young male stepped off, and apprehensively made his way into the bull pen.

The three guys turned around to see who she was looking at, and from Castle's perspective, it was kind of too good to be true.

Beckett put down her notebook and made her way over to the young man, and introduced herself.

* * *

THE interrogation room was very bright, with white walls and a large mirror. The only other furnishing in the room was a metal table, and two chairs. It was a setting that no one liked to be in, especially if you were sitting on the opposite side of the chair.

The door to the interrogation room opened and Beckett and Castle stepped in. Beckett was holding a piece of paper, the black haired boy's criminal record check, and she placed it on the table. The young man was clearly nervous and antsy. Also, the fact that he was here in the first place intrigued Castle on so many levels.

"Alexander Danes," Beckett began to say in her cop voice.

"I go by Xander," He said nervously, and immediately regretted it, by shifting his eyes back down on the table. He was turning all shades of red, and Beckett felt sorry for him. This kid was a college student, and he didn't even have a criminal record. It was obvious that she didn't have to go all tough cop on him - at least not yet, anyway.

"Xander, can you tell me what brings you here?" She asked, this time in a softer voice.

Xander looked back at Beckett. "I saw my picture on the news. They said it was important to talk to the police, so I came."

Beckett nodded her head. "Do you know why we want to talk to you?"

Xander took a deep breath, almost as if he was going to cry. "It's about Adria and Lara, isn't it."

Beckett nodded her head. "You know about them?"

"I heard about it on the news," He said, his voice shaking. "I still can't believe it."

"You seem very upset," Castle added, from the back of the interrogation room.

"They were my best friends..." Xander said sadly.

"The funny thing is, we showed your picture to their parents, and they haven't seen you before," Beckett probed.

"That's because our friendship was a secret. They didn't want anyone to know."

"How come?" Asked Beckett.

"I never asked. I was just thankful to get out once in awhile. I don't have friends."

"How long have you known them?" Castle asked, making his way closer to Beckett.

"We met two years ago. I was sitting by myself in the food court, and they were sitting together next to me. They were talking about a TV show they liked, and I was a fan of it too, so I said something about it, and we just started talking. By the end of it, we sort of became friends."

"And you met them at the mall?"

"Yes, but not all the time. Maybe once a week we would get together. Hang out, maybe catch a movie. It was an afternoon to evening thing." Xander looked up at Castle. "They were a fan of your books. I waited with them for hours so they could pick up Naked Heat before the store even opened. We drank so much coffee that morning..." His voice trailed as he remembered happier times.

"The day that they were murdered, we have you on the security camera at the mall for less then an hour," Beckett said, bringing the conversation back on focus.

"Yes. Adria and Lara texted me like they usually did to meet for around two. We sat down, had drinks and talked, but they said they couldn't stay long. That their parents wanted them home around three."

"When we spoke to the Martins, they said they weren't expecting Adria and Lara home for dinner," Beckett said.

"And why would you go to the mall to meet them for an hour?" Castle pondered out loud.

"I live in walking distance to the mall, so I didn't mind. It wasn't a waste of time for me. I enjoy their company. It's better then being alone all the time," Xander paused. "Anyway, we walked to our usual exit/entrance, but something was off, and now I blame myself. I should have done or said something..."

"What are you talking about Xander?" Beckett asked.

"Well, usually Adria and Lara take a taxi to the mall. There and back home. In fact, when I started heading in the opposite direction back to my place, they were trying to hail a cab. But for some reason, I turned back - I don't know why - I think I wanted to tell them something, but instead of them getting in a cab, they were heading down toward the subway, which was unusual because they told me they have never been on the subway, and wouldn't even know how to get around on one."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

BECKETT watched as Xander made his way into the elevator, before turning back to face Castle, and the two male detectives.

"How can you live your whole life in New York and not know how to use the subway?" Esposito asked.

"They knew how to use the subway," Ryan stated before Beckett had a chance to. "They just lied about it."

"Which brings us to two very important questions: Why did they lie about it, and where did they go?" Castle placed his hands on the desk, exchanging looks between the three detectives.

Beckett rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, and took a quick peak at her father's watch she always wore.

"First things first we need to make sure they actually went on the subway," Beckett began. "Esposito; Ryan, go down to the subway station and collect all the tapes. We may be able to see what route they took."

"On it," They said in unison, each grabbing their coats and heading toward the elevator.

When they were gone, Castle turned to Beckett and said, "What do you think about Xander? You like him for murder?"

To be honest, Xander didn't strike Beckett as a killer. He was small and frail and a little socially awkward. But stick a gun or a knife in anyones hand, and you would be surprised at who is capable of killing.

"I don't know Castle. I still have to check his alibi."

"At home with his parents? Is that even a strong one?"

Beckett didn't answer Castle's question, instead she picked up the phone on the desk and dialed a number. Within moments a soft voice could be heard on the other line.

"Mrs. Danes. I'm Detective Kate Beckett from the NYPD. I was just wondering if you could confirm or deny that your son, Alexander, was home between 6-8pm."

Castle tried to hear what Mrs. Danes was saying, but couldn't. He heard Beckett thank her for her time before she hung up the phone.

"And?" Castle asked.

"Xander came home shortly after three, and didn't leave the house after. Apparently Mrs. Danes sister came over with her small children, and Xander was playing with them all night."

"He never struck me as a killer anyway," Castle said, to which Beckett only rolled her eyes.

Beckett's cell phone started to vibrate, and she took it out of her pocket, looked at it for a quick second, and smiled to herself before she put it away.

Castle couldn't help but notice. "Was that from your boyfriend?"

"As a matter of fact...it was," Beckett said.

"Date night?"

"Yes," Beckett said so simply that it threw Castle off.

"His place, or yours?" Castle asked, trying to hide the mix of jealousy and sadness in his voice.

"Not that it is any of your business, but he got us reservations to this fancy restaurant."

"Which restaurant?"

"A very formal one." Was all Beckett said, before turning her back on Castle and heading toward the break room.

Castle followed, listing off all the places he could think of, and Beckett, as per usual, ignored him while she prepared an espresso for herself.

"Why won't you tell me?" Castle finally asked.

"Because I don't kiss and tell," She responded in a sultry voice, while looking at Castle, who bit on his knuckle like he always did.

"Besides," She continued. "We have more important things to do then worry about my love life."

Beckett took her espresso cup, and headed back out into the bull pen, taking a sip of the soothing liquid, not noticing that Castle had not followed her out.

* * *

ESPOSITO and Ryan made their way down the 34th street subway steps where Adria and Lara were last seen headed. They pushed past the numerous New Yorkers who were either exiting or entering the station.

"What can I get you?" The Metro middle aged male employee asked from behind the glass booth.

Both Esposito and Ryan flashed their badges.

"We need to speak with your manager," Esposito said, and the employee nodded his head, calling for him on the phone. In the meantime, the two Detectives stepped aside, while they waited.

Within five minutes, an older looking gentleman approached the two Detectives.

"Bill Toms, manager," He said, sticking out his hand. The Detectives shook it, each introducing themselves.

"So, how can I help the NYPD?" Bill asked, leading them to his office.

"We are investigating a homicide," Ryan said. "And we have a witness who saw the two victims enter this subway Monday afternoon around 3:00pm."

"We were wondering if it was possible to have the security footage of that time."

"Not a problem," Bill said, unlocking the door and allowing the Detectives to enter. The office was large, and it had multiple monitors giving different views of the subway platforms.

"This Monday afternoon, right?"

Detective Esposito nodded his head, and Bill went over the tapes, each one labelled with a date and time stamp.

"We change the tapes every six hours, so hopefully the people you are looking for are on there before then," Bill said handing the tape to Ryan.

"We appreciate this," Ryan said, before the two of them left.

* * *

THE five star restaurant Josh had taken her for dinner was magnificent. The food was unlike anything she had ever tasted, and for once she was happy that the conversation over dinner was about motorcycles, and not dead bodies or crime scenes.

"I thought you had an early morning," Beckett said, as Josh walked up with her to her apartment complex.

"Well, Kate, I just wanted to make sure you got in okay," Josh said as the elevator doors opened and they got off on her floor. The new apartment building she lived in, since her last one was blown up by some deranged serial killer, wasn't as nice as her old one, but accommodated her needs, and most importantly, her salary.

"Well, aren't you chivalrous," Beckett joked as she looked for the keys in her purse.

"Um, Kate," Josh said, which caused her to look up at him. She noticed he was starring at her door, and as she turned to look at it, she noticed it was ajar.

Someone had broken into her apartment.

Josh was about to go in, when she pulled him back. It was highly unlikely that whoever broke in was still inside, but just incase they were, she needed to be prepared.

"You have a gun in your purse?" Josh asked, noticing the small caliber pistol she now had in her hands.

"I like to be prepared. Stay out here."

She slowly opened the door to her apartment and stepped in, her senses on constant alert. She flipped on the light switch, and the first thing she noticed was that her apartment had been ransacked, and that her television was missing. She then walked over to the kitchen area and shut the fridge door that the robbers had left semi open. She could almost here Castle's voice in her head, joking about hungry thieves. The next room she went into was her bedroom. After turning on the light, she noticed her night side lamp was on the floor, and her clock by her nightstand was also gone to. She also noticed that the robber had gone through her night stand drawer, and she rushed over to it, hoping that the robber hadn't found the false bottom.

She breathed a sigh of relief, when she found her badge and gun safe and sound. After the events that happened last year with Dunn, she had done some major reorganizing of where she kept her things.

Beckett put her gun down, and told Josh it was safe to come in. It was only after that did she notice her box was not in the place she left it. She ran to the other side of the room, where she kept it, and began to frantically look for it. The Television, food, and her alarm clock, could all easily be replaced - but her box...

"What are you looking for?" Josh asked once he appeared at the doorway.

"It's a jewelry box. It has a picture of my parents on top of it," Beckett said, her voice frantic. She looked under the bed, but it was no use. It was gone.

And the robber took it.

"I called the police," Josh said, but Beckett couldn't hear him. Her heart was beating too loud.

* * *

JOSH had left shortly after the police had arrived. He had opted to stay, but she practically kicked him out. He had a busy day, and she could handle herself.

The police also didn't stay long either. They took her statement, noting that the robber must have picked the lock, dusted for prints on the fridge and door, while she listed all the things that she noticed were missing, stressing her jewelry box as the most important possession.

She felt sick to her stomach, and all she wanted to do was vomit, but she couldn't. Her mother's wedding ring was her most prized possession and now it was gone. To her, it felt like losing her mother all over again.

And her father's watch. It wasn't just important to her because she saved her father from drowning in alcohol, but her mother had given him that watch on their anniversary.

She wondered why the robber would take the custom made jewelry box, that had her favorite picture of her parents on it. Those items in that box had special sentimental value to her, and now they were all gone.

Just like her mother.

She walked over to her nightstand, and began cleaning up the mess. She bent down and picked up the lamp that had fallen on the floor. She held it in her hand for a moment before she hurled it across the room, watching as it smashed into hundreds of tiny pieces.

She put her back against the cold wall of her room, and let herself slide down as she cried.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

_December 1997_

THE night's winter air was cold, and it nipped at Kate's face as she walked through the street of her New York neighborhood. Christmas would be in a couple of days, and like all the Beckett's family traditions, for the past nineteen years, her and her parents spent the evening of December 23rd, skating at Rockefella center.

With her skates loosely hanging around her neck, she turned back to face her parents, who were holding hands and walking close together, each admiring all the Christmas lights and decorations that lit up New York, as they walked back home. Christmas was their favorite holiday, because for some reason, there was something magical about it.

Johanna looked up, and noticed her daughter walking backwards.

"You should watch where you are going, Kate. You are going to slip and fall," Johanna said.

"You should listen to your mother, Katie," Jim replied.

"I'm only looking out for your best interest," Johanna added.

"I'm not going to fall," Kate said in a tone that was matter of fact. "I have impeccable balance."

Johanna and Jim began to laugh at that, as if it were an inside joke between the two of them, one that was probably at Kate's expense.

"What?" Kate asked, once her parents stopped laughing. "Come on guys, tell me."

Kate saw her father open his mouth, as if to explain something, but all of a sudden she felt gravity force her down onto the cold pavement. She closed her eyes as a wave of pain coursed through her body. When she opened her eyes again, her mother was standing above her.

"I told you so," Was all Johanna said with a knowing smile.

Kate groaned in pain, rolling herself over on the pavement. "What happened?"

"You slipped," Johanna expLanied, helping her daughter up. She noticed Kate grasp her backside.

"I think I landed on a rock," Kate said.

"Well then," Jim began saying, while picking up a patch of snow and morphing it into a ball, extending it to Kate. "You should put some ice on it."

"Dad," Kate said, as Johanna tried her best to stifle her laughter. "It hurts."

"Oh come on, Katie. It's funny," Jim replied as Kate half-smiled at her father's sense of humor. He had again succeeded in making her laugh.

Kate grabbed onto the railing of their town house, and started to head up the stairs, anticipating the comfort the warmth of their home would offer her.

When they all got inside, the three of them put their skates down, and threw their coats on top of the coat rack.

"Lift up your shirt," Johanna said to Kate, who was still clutching her side. Kate complied, and lifted her shirt in the back to reveal the formation of a bruise. Johanna touched it gingerly, but Kate still winced in pain.

"You'll live," Jim said, taking a look. Kate only shot him a look.

Putting her shirt back down, she headed toward the living room, grabbing the camera that was sitting on the table. She always had a passion for photography, and as she turned the camera on, and pointed it towards her parents, who were laughing and dancing with each other randomly, she couldn't help but think that's what she wanted. One partner who she could spend the rest of her life with - just like her parents.

As they made their way into the living room, her father twirled her mother around in a beautiful breath taking moment, so they were facing her. She shot the picture, with her father's arm loosely around her mother's neck, as if he were embracing her, and both of them had smiles that lit up the room, paralleling New York on a December night.

* * *

CASTLE sat patiently in his chair, waiting for Beckett to come to work. By now, everyone in the precinct knew that Beckett's apartment was broken into, and for Beckett's sake, Castle had hoped that the robber didn't take much.

He turned around when he heard the familiar sounds of her shoes hitting the old hardwood floor of the bullpen.

"Morning, Kate," He said, and she gave him quizzical look. He hardly ever called her Kate.

"I know you know my apartment was broken into," Beckett said before sitting down at her desk.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I wasn't home when it happened," She stated.

"Did they take much?"

"Things that can be replaced," She replied in a deadpanned voice.

"Still, that must be...unsettling," Castle added.

"Burglary is looking into it," Was all Beckett said.

Castle nodded his head, but it wasn't like Beckett noticed, as she was busy starring at her computer monitor. It was only when she went to type in her log in details, that Castle noticed she wasn't wearing her father's watch. Beckett always wore her father's watch, except when she dressed up formally.

"You're not wearing your father's watch," Castle stated out loud.

Beckett looked down at her bare wrist. She felt naked with out the ring around her neck, and the watch on her wrist, but she wouldn't let that show.

"My jewelry box was taken. The box was where I kept my mother's ring and my father's watch."

She stated it so emotionlessly that Castle was taken aback, because he knew the first things she looked for when Dunn blew up her apartment was for that box, her mother's ring, and her father's watch. He knew how much those meant to her, and yet, at the same time she was casually dismissing them.

He was about to say something when Esposito and Ryan entered the bullpen, claiming they got something while making their way to Beckett's desk.

"What do you got?" Beckett asked.

Before the two male detectives said anything, they exchanged quick looks between each other.

"We heard about what happened last night," Esposito began.

"I have a friend who works burglary, I told him to make your case top priority," Ryan added.

"I appreciate that," Beckett said and gave her fellow detectives a soft smile. "But my priority right now is solving this mess of a homicide case. You said you had something?"

As if on cue, Ryan slapped down two photo security pictures of Adria and Lara entering the subway, just like Xander had said he saw them go.

"Spent all night going through all the footage of all the subway terminals, and it gets better," Esposito said.

Castle was now intrigued. "Go on."

"We got them getting off at two different stops, and after they got off in Brooklyn, they never went back on the subway," Ryan finished.

Beckett grabbed the two photos and got up off her chair, heading toward the white board and writing down the two new facts.

"The first stop they made before they wound up in Brooklyn, they arrived at -"

"-3:15pm," Ryan said, and Beckett wrote that down.

"And when did they get back on the subway?"

"Footage puts them arriving at the platform at 4:30pm," Replied Esposito, as Beckett wrote that down too.

"And then a little over half an hour later they arrive at Brooklyn," Ryan finished.

Beckett took a step back, looking at the board. Now more pieces were coming together.

"Okay, so if Lanie's ETD is correct, by the time they arrived at Brooklyn, they were alive for at least an hour, if they were in fact killed at 6:00pm."

"But the elephant on the whiteboard is wondering what they were doing for an hour and fifteen minutes before they arrived at Brooklyn," Castle pointed out.

"They must have met someone," Beckett said.

"And I doubt Xander or their parents would know who, especially if they were big on keeping secrets," Castle reminded.

"Is there anything by that subway stop that might interest Adria and Lara?"

"We'll look into that," Esposito said.

"Thanks," Kate said, as she was about to check her wrist for the time, when she remembered she didn't have her father's watch on.

Castle noticed the slip-up, and for a brief moment, he could have sworn he saw a wave of pain wash through her face, but as quickly as it was there, it was gone, and she recovered as if nothing had happened.

"Look, I have to talk to robbery about last night. When I get back, you guys better have something for me."

The three men just nodded their heads, and watched as Beckett grabbed her things and headed toward the elevator. Once she was on, and the doors were closed, Ryan turned toward his friends.

"Is it just me, or is Beckett not wearing her watch?"

"It got stolen, along with her mother's wedding ring," Castle answered. "Thief took her jewelry box."

"That just ain't right," Esposito said, crossing his arms. "How's she dealing with that? Gotta hurt her since those are her most prized possessions."

Castle didn't answer, because he didn't even know himself. He knew Beckett was strong. She was the strongest woman he has ever known, and he admired her for that quality. But on the other hand, he wondered if Beckett was wearing a mask; afraid to let her true emotions show.

He wondered if losing those items hurt her more then she cared to admit to.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

BECKETT had volunteered to check out the surrounding areas around the subway stop, since Ryan and Esposito had spent most of the night awake and reviewing security footage, which, from Beckett's personal experience, was often tedious work. However, even though it was dull, there was no denying how helpful it really was. She promised she would update her two closest male detective friends, while they took a nap in the other precinct's break room.

Beckett parallel parked her unmarked police car by the subway exit where Adria and Lara were seen heading toward in the footage, and stepped out, Castle following suit on the passenger's side.

The two of them both scoured the immediate places surrounding the area, and aside from some Chinese nail salon - which Beckett doubted they went to, considering the victims' nails hadn't looked like they had been done in awhile - the only other near by place was a restaurant that didn't look particularly busy.

"Adria and Lara did tell their parents not to worry about dinner for them," Castle said, as if he had read Beckett's mind. They exchanged quick looks and headed for the restaurant.

Once they were inside, Castle immediately noted the decor. The walls were immaculately white, and the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling didn't look too expensive - like the restaurants he usually goes to - but they weren't cheap either, meaning business must be good.

And what was that he smelled?

He leaned over Beckett, trying to get a peak at the dinning area, to see if he could see what this restaurant's specialty was. He was so transfixed, that he didn't see the hostess come up to them.

"Table for two?" The young female hostess said in a saccharine voice, which had startled Castle.

Beckett pulled out her badge and showed it to they young hostess. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett, and this is -"

"Richard Castle! I know. I'm a huge fan of your books," She said, with a wide smile. "We usually never get celebrities in here, this is so awesome."

Castle smiled back, flattered by the recognition.

"My friends are going to be _so_ jealous when I tweet about this."

Beckett leaned closer, so she could get a look at the way-to-happy girl's name, who was gushing on and on about Castle. She almost rolled her eyes at how much Castle was enjoying this.

"Susie," Beckett finally said, snapping the young hostess back to reality.

"Oh right. Detective. What can I help you with again?"

"We need to speak with your manager, and preferably anyone who was working Monday around 3:15pm to 4:30pm."

"Sure. I was working Monday during that time, and three other waiters. If you follow me, I'll take you to the back."

The back, much to Castle's disappointment, wasn't so much to the back as it was turning right and heading down a bunch of stairs. He was really hoping to walk through the dinning area.

The two of them waited, while Susie left and then came back with four people. Three in the same uniforms as Susie, and one in a business-like suit.

"Detective, what can I do for you?" The Manger asked. He was probably around his late forties, but there was a friendliness to him that made Castle feel at ease.

"We were wondering if anyone saw these two girls come into your restaurant Monday around 3:15 to 4:30pm?"

Beckett passed around the picture of the twins, each one taking a look, and then passing it on to the other, until it stopped with Susie, and each shook their heads.

"Sorry Detective. I don't recognize them," The manager said.

"Are you sure?" Beckett asked again, hoping they would each take another look.

"Positive," Susie said. "I'm usually the one that firsts sees our guests - we mostly have regulars as clientele - so I would definitely remember someone new" - she looked directly at Castle, while saying the next part - "I kind of have photographic memory that way. And I would have definitely remembered twins. How cool are they?"

Beckett let out a small sigh, thanking them for their time as they headed back up the stairs.

Before Castle left, he turned toward Susie. "Can I ask you something?"

Susie eagerly nodded her head.

"What do you guys make here? It smells delicious."

"It's an Italian place. We make one of the best pizza's in the world, along with home made pastas and sauces."

Castle nodded his head, and then reached for a napkin that was sitting by the Hostess podium. Taking out a pen from his shirt pocket, he wrote -

_To Susie, _

_ Thanks for all your help, _

_ Rick Castle :)_

and handedit to the young hostess, who was turning all shades of red and white, her hands shaking as she accepted it.

* * *

WHEN they finally exited the restaurant, and were a few yards away, Beckett turned to look at Castle, who was still reeling from, what Beckett guessed, was another stroke to his already massive ego.

"You don't have to be jealous, Beckett. I know you are still _my_ biggest fan," Castle said, when he noticed the Detective looking at him.

She just scoffed. "Jealous? I was debating whether or not to give the girl CPR."

This time Castle laughed. "What can I say? Sometimes I leave women breathless."

"Well unfortunately we are back where we started," Beckett said once they were back at the car. "We should head down that way, see if there is something else."

Castle complied, following the Detective in the opposite direction, looking for anything that might strike him as odd. Aside from what looked like corporate offices, and mini boutiques, there was really nothing out of the ordinary in this place, and nothing that he could think of that would interest the twins, unless they were into collecting little Russian Dolls.

And that's when he saw it.

It wasn't an it, per say, as it was a them, but across the street, he saw a pair of unmistakable male twins, who looked like they were leaving the corporate office building.

Now, he had been along Detective Beckett enough to remember there was no such thing as coincidences, and he thought it was worth checking out.

"Beckett," He called, which caused the Detective to stop walking and turn around to face him. She hadn't even realized he had stopped following her.

"What?" Beckett asked as she made her way back up to him.

"Twins."

"What?" She asked again.

"I saw twins."

Beckett put her hands on her hips. "Yeah Castle, they aren't exactly...rare..." Beckett stopped herself, putting two and two together as Castle smiled his 'I think I just broke the case' smile.

"Where?" She asked, and Castle pointed to the building he saw them exit out of.

* * *

THE inside of the building did not do the outside any justice. It was neat and clean, and everything seemed well organized. It was an even nicer lobby then the one his ex-wife, Gina had at her publishing company.

Beckett made her way over to the directory, and Castle, as always, followed. She looked for anything that would strike her as odd, but the only thing listed on the directory was a cafeteria, an Everest like private college, a few doctor's offices, and an accounting firm.

"Maybe they decided to pursue a post-secondary education after all," Castle said.

"For a little over an hour?" Beckett asked, and Castle only shrugged as Beckett went back to looking at the directory.

The elevator doors chimed, causing Castle to look toward it, as a group of people stepped off. Among those people in the group, were two sets of identical twins. Castle pegged them to be in their early to mid thirties, and both twin sisters were pregnant, and both the male twins looked as if they were each romantically involved with the two sisters.

Castle nudged Beckett, causing her to look at what he was looking at.

"Identical twins marrying identical twins...how cool is that?" He said in a bare whisper, but Beckett only glared at him. And before she could react, Castle started to make his way toward the twin couples.

"Castle!" She hissed, but it was too late.

"Hello," She heard Castle say, once he was in front of the four of them. "I'm Richard Castle."

"Oh, we know who you are," The two twin sisters said in unison.

"You are the reason we are together," One of the male twins' said.

"We met at a Castle book club. It was love at first sight," The other male twin added.

"Well, isn't that lovely," Castle said, turning to Beckett who had made her way beside them.

"How very nice," Beckett replied.

"We are both having girls. I won the toss up to name my daughter Nikki, after Nikki Heat," The sister on Castle's right said.

"I haven't decided if I should name mine Lauren, as in Nikki's best friend and medical examiner - I mean just think of how cool that would be - or after the real Nikki Heat herself," The other sister replied, touching her swollen belly, while looking directly at Kate.

"I'm...honored?" Beckett said, switching her gaze between Castle and the two sets of twins.

"Either way, we plan on paying homage to the book that brought us together," This sister on the right said.

"If we were having boys we would have named them Derrick or Jameson," One of the male twins' said.

"It's quite a coincidence you two are having girls," Castle said, changing the direction of the conversation.

The four of them laughed, as if they were reliving an inside joke.

"You should have seen our family's reaction," The male twin by Castle's right said.

"I bet it was pretty funny," Castle said, joining in on the joke, while picturing their family members reactions. However, a glare from Beckett brought him back to reality.

"Actually, the reason why I stopped you was because I noticed there were a lot of twins leaving this building, and I thought maybe there was a convention or something."

One of the female twins laughed. "Sorry to disappoint, Mr. Castle, but no twin fair here."

"Unless you count Dr. Roker's office," Her husband said.

"Dr. Roker?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah. He specializes in twins. In fact, all his patients are twins."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

IF Castle thought the building's lobby was extravagant, Dr. Roker's office had nothing on it. Unique pictures of DNA strands hung from all the walls that had a semi-gold tint to it. The waiting area was equipped with it's very own espresso machine, a better one then what Castle had bought the 12th precinct, and the waiting chairs were actually leather. It almost made Castle wish he were a twin, just to be in a waiting room as nice as this.

While Castle was busy looking at the decor, Beckett was busy looking at the patients. The twin couples they met downstairs weren't lying when they said Dr. Roker only dealt with twins, as she had counted four different sets of twins in the waiting room.

"Isn't this place awesome?" Castle whispered into Beckett's ear.

"You know Castle, I'm really surprised that my eyes aren't permanently rolled in the back of my head," Beckett said as she made her way over to the extravagant reception desk, that had the doctor's name largely engraved on it, with what looked like gold stenciling.

The receptionist sitting at the desk was reading a People magazine, and it was hoisted in front of her face, covering it, so all that Beckett could make out was that she had long blond hair, and that her nails were perfectly manicured. She was also making popping noises, with what Beckett assumed was gum.

"Excuse me," Beckett said, and after a few moments, the receptionist put down the magazine, revealing her face, which looked like it had a lot (a lot) of cosmetic work done, making her appear older then she probably was.

"Yeah?" The receptionist said in an annoyed voice, like Beckett had somehow interrupted her from something important.

"I need to speak with Dr. Roker," Beckett said.

"You have an appointment?" The receptionist asked between gum bubbles.

"No," Beckett said.

The receptionist rolled her eyes, and brought the magazine back up to her face, while quickly pointing to a sign that read: 'Appointments Only' in big bold letters beside her.

"You even know'd a read?"

Castle bit his tongue, suppressing the urge to ask her if she knew how to speak.

Beckett reached over and grabbed the magazine, yanking it out of the girl's perfect manicured hands, which caused her to yell 'Hey!' really loud, and the other patients in the room to look up at what was going on.

Beckett showed the receptionist her badge, and with a stern voice said: "This is my appointment."

Castle couldn't tell if the receptionist was expressing shock, or not, but she complied to Beckett's abruptness - which had surprised him a little. Within moments, a balding, plump doctor stepped out of his office and beckoned the two of them to come in.

* * *

CASTLE noted that the office was just as beautiful as the waiting room, with similar pictures of DNA strands hanging on the walls, next to diplomas in magnificent frames, as well as various awards, and even a picture of him and his friends at a golf course, in what looked like some tropical island.

On the other hand, the doctor's desk was much simpler. It contained a Mac computer, the newest one, and a framed photo of his family. A wife, and three sons, all in ranging from their teens, to early twenties.

"I respect that you are the police," Dr. Roker began as he sat down. "But my office is not a theatre, and I don't appreciate the spectacle, especially when it disrupts my staff and clients."

Beckett didn't even bother to apologize. So far, she was having the week from hell, and she wasn't going to dance around, especially when there were two victims involved, and their killer still out there. So instead she went straight to business. Pulling out a photo of the twin girls, she placed it on the desk.

"Do you recognize these girls?"

The doctor took a look, his face giving away nothing. '_The perfect poker player,'_ Castle thought.

"They are twins," The doctor commented. "But not my patients."

"Are you sure?" Beckett asked.

"Yes Detective, I am sure. I have never seen these two before in my life."

"It's just that they got off the subway around your place of work Monday afternoon," Beckett began.

"A lot of people get off the subway Detective. This is New York," The doctor said, as if he was talking to an idiot child.

"But you specialize in twins," Castle said.

The doctor looked at him - really looked at him. "You look familiar."

"I'm a writer," Castle responded, and the doctor nodded his head as if he had an epiphany.

"NYPD hiring anybody now-a-day?" The doctor joked, while looking at Beckett.

"We are investigating a double homicide, Dr. Roker," Beckett stressed again. "Before they got on the subway again, they were last seen around this area -"

The doctor interrupted her. "I hate to tell you how to do your job, Detective, but I've told you already, and I don't know how much clearer I have to be: I. Do. Not. Know. Who. These. Girls. Are. Now, if you'll please leave, I _actually_ have work to do."

* * *

"CAN you arrest someone for being a jerk?" Castle asked Beckett the second they stepped off the elevator, and were back in the lobby.

Beckett wanted nothing more then to wipe that smug look off that doctor's face, but they had nothing to go on, but a hunch, which panned out to be nothing, considering the doctor stated he had no idea who the twins were.

At least, so the doctor said.

Pulling out her cell phone, Beckett called Esposito, telling him to get as much background information on a Doctor Michael Roker as he could. Something about him bothered the female detective, and it didn't hurt to check it out, and see what skeletons were hiding in Roker's closet.

Once Beckett ended her call, she turned to Castle, and by the look on his face, he had gotten the same vibe from the doctor as well.

"You know," He began, when they were close to Beckett's car. "If this were a story, I would make him the mad scientist type - like Dr. Frankenstein."

Beckett raised her eyebrows, intrigued. "Mad scientist, huh?"

"Doesn't he strike you as a Dr. Frankenstein type?"

Beckett pondered that for a moment, and then said: "More like the monster."

Castle gave Beckett a touché look, sharing the same sentiments. He hoped more then anything that Esposito and Ryan were able to dig up something on that guy.

* * *

WHEN they arrived back at the precinct, they noticed Esposito holding a folder, and by the look on his face, Beckett knew he had found nothing.

"Not even a single parking ticket," Ryan said from the opposite side of the desk. "Guy's clean."

"He's an ass," Castle said.

"That may be true, but he isn't a criminal. Sorry," Esposito said, handing the folder over to Beckett anyway, who took a quick look, before throwing it frustratingly back down on the desk.

"I still don't want to rule him out," Beckett said. "And I don't believe in coincidences."

"What about the second subway stop? The last one they arrived at? Find anything?" Esposito asked.

"Some small shops, but mostly residential homes and a park," Castle answered.

"Think they went to the park?" Ryan commented.

Beckett shrugged. "We can't be sure. But right now our only bet is to find a connection between Dr. Roker and our victims." "What about their parents? You think they would know?" Ryan suggested, and Beckett picked up the phone by Esposito, pulling out her note pad, and finding the Martin's number and dialing it.

The three males all went quiet.

"Hello Mrs. Martin, this is Detective Kate Beckett."

"Detective - do you have news?" Holly said, through the phone.

"Just a question. Do you know a Dr. Michael Roker? He seems to specialize in twins?"

"A Dr. Michael Roker? No. Our Family doctor is Michelle Cabot. Why?"

"Just following up on inquires," Beckett said.

"Okay. If you have any more questions, feel free to stop by or phone," Holly said.

"Okay, thank-you." Beckett hung up the phone, turning toward the guys.

"We heard," Esposito said. "Back to square one?"

The four of them turned to face the whiteboard.

Back to square one.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

ONE month.

One month had idly passed by with no break in the double murder case involving twin sisters. The three detectives, plus a murder novelist, had all hit a roadblock after the - according to Castle - unfortunate run in with Dr. Roker. In the meantime, Captain Montgomery had told them to push the case aside and work on others that had popped up in between cases. All of them were pretty much straightforward: two domestic homicides; one vigilante killing, and a convenience store robbery gone wrong.

However, as much as Beckett tried to push the twins' case aside, she still found herself starring for hours at the whiteboard, hoping she would see something she missed - something that would connect everything together.

There was also another reason why Beckett focused all her energy on this case, and in a way, though she hated to admit it, she was kind of glad for the challenge in finding the murderer. It kept her mind going over possible scenarios and connections, and in turn, kept her from thinking about what was taken from her. It still bothered her that she lost her most prized possessions, possibly forever.

"You're here early," Came Castle's familiar voice from across the Bullpen. Beckett turned to see him walking closer into the Bullpen, and as per usual, he was holding a tray of coffee; this time with four cups.

"Thanks for the coffee, bro," Esposito, who was sitting at his desk, said, while taking two of the cups, and handing one over to Ryan, who nodded his head in appreciation.

"No problem," Castle replied, now making his way over to Beckett by the whiteboard. "And for you," He began, handing her over the cup. "A special concoction today."

"Oh yeah?"

"They call it a red-eye. One espresso shot, and the rest 100% Colombian coffee."

"Dude!" Esposito said from his desk. "I'd still like to sleep, you know."

"Don't worry Esposito," Castle said, half-laughing. "This will just keep you focused throughout the day. And besides, it looks like your partner needs the heavy duty stuff."

All three of them looked at Ryan, who still looked half asleep.

"Any breakthroughs?" Castle asked Beckett, when she turned back to face the whiteboard.

She took a sip of her coffee, before simply stating no. Castle never believed that there was such a thing as a perfect murder, but with dead ends at every end on this case, he might make an exception.

He then, unintentionally, looked at Beckett, who was still concentrating on the board. He noticed she looked tired - really tired - like she wasn't sleeping. Any time he tried to have her talk about her feelings she would brush him off, as if they weren't important.

He was about to say something, when Detectives Johnson and McKenna entered the Bullpen. They too were homicide detectives, and more often then not, the four of them, butted heads with the two head strong-male detectives - one of which, McKenna, was the Police Commissioner's nephew.

"Well, well, if it isn't Roach," McKenna joked, referring to Esposito and Ryan's characters in Castle's novel.

Ryan, who now seemed wide awake, laughed at the quip meant to be an insult. "Jealous you weren't included, McKenna?"

"Jealous that we need a novelist to solve our murder crimes?" Johnson glanced over at Castle. "Don't think so."

Castle, for obvious reasons, never liked these two detectives. They were known to be exceptionally cruel to co-workers, and if McKenna weren't related to the Commissioner, he would have been gone along time ago.

"At least our cases get solved," Castle said under his breath, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

The two male detectives exchanged laughs. "I think Ricky here just proved you three to be incompetent," Johnson laughed.

"I did not," Castle said, and before he could lay it into the two detectives, he was interrupted.

"What do you want, Detectives?" Beckett asked, semi-annoyed. She wasn't going to let anyone take their bait.

"We're glad you asked," Johnson said, as he and McKenna came closer to Beckett. It was then that she noticed they were holding a bag.

"We have a friend in robbery," McKenna said, looking directly at Beckett. "Never believe what they found, everything intact, too."

Beckett watched as McKenna brought the bag up, and slowly began to remove a package. More specifically a mahogany jewelry box.

Her heart stopped. Had they found her box?

However, her expression quickly changed when they turned the box around to reveal that it wasn't her box, and she could tell the detectives were trying to hold in their laughter.

She silently cursed at herself for not realizing it was a prank. She should have known better.

"You thought it was yours?" Johnson said, and Beckett tried hard not to take the bait, instead she turned around and placed her coffee on her desk.

"Face it, Katherine, you won't find your box," McKenna began. "It's gone, just like"-

A loud crack was heard throughout the Bullpen, as Beckett's fist met McKenna's nose. She had turned around so fast that Castle didn't even realize what was going on until he saw blood gushing down McKenna's face.

"You bitch!" McKenna yelled, and Johnson was about to go after Beckett, when Esposito and Ryan intervened.

Captain Montgomery came out of his office. "What the hell is going on in here?"

"Bitch broke my nose," McKenna said, pointing a bloody hand at Beckett.

"You're lucky that's all I did," Beckett said with a coldness that took Castle aback. He had never seen Beckett this angry before.

"You are going to hear it. Say goodbye to your career, Katherine." He made a motion toward Beckett, and she mirrored it, causing Castle to have to restrain her.

"I'm not going to have this in my Bullpen!" Captain Montgomery finally said. "McKenna and Johnson, in my office. Beckett, get some air, and cool off. Now!"

* * *

THE morning breeze felt nice on Beckett's face as she stepped outside the Precinct. She couldn't believe that she had actually hit McKenna, but for some reason she had just lost it.

She didn't even notice that Castle had followed her out until he was sitting beside her on the steps.

"He deserved that," Castle said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, well, some might not agree," Beckett, said.

"I don't think you have to worry," Castle added. "Esposito and Ryan are going to tell the Captain the truth about what happened. And besides, I have pull with the Mayor. I can't write Nikki Heat without Nikki Heat."

Beckett smiled at Castle. Even if Castle made everything all about himself, he had a way of making her feel better. It was then, that her eyes landed on a young man, making his way toward the police station. She recognized him.

"Xander?" Beckett said, once the young man stopped in front of them.

"Detective Beckett; Mr. Castle...is this a bad time?" He asked.

Beckett and Castle quickly exchanged looks, before heading back into the Precinct.

* * *

XANDER sat in the same spot he had last time he was at the police station, but this time he wasn't nervous, and was able to look Detective Beckett in the eye when she came back into the room.

"You said you wanted to talk?" Beckett said, sitting down opposite to him, and Xander nodded his head.

"I've been thinking about them a lot, and I've been going through old conversations we had on the computer and I didn't notice it until last night, but,"- Xander opened his back pack, and took out a folder, placing it on the table - "I noticed this one conversation we had was a little weird."

Beckett took the folder and looked at the conversation logs.

"You see, I've been having financial troubles in paying for school. I told them that a while ago, and for some reason, they brought it up two months before they died. I mean, I didn't think anything of it at the time, but they said 'not to worry, things are going to change'. And I figure, this may be why they were so secretive."

"Do you think they were getting money from their parents?"

Xander shook his head. "No. I mean, their parents give them a heft weekly allowance, but not enough for things to change. And sometimes they would give me money or pay for my movie tickets and such, but they keep saying things are going to change."

Beckett appreciated the help, but 'things are going to change' was so ambiguous that it could mean nothing. However, she thanked Xander for the information, and said she would look into the meanings some more. She wondered if things changing had anything to do with Dr. Roker.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

CASTLE had been watching Beckett and Xander through the opposite side of the interrogation glass, and he had hoped so bad that Xander would have given them something more useful - but he had learnt early on that any evidence was good evidence - it just may take awhile to understand what it all means; and how it is all connected.

With Xander now gone, Beckett made her way into the outside of the interrogation room where Castle was. They each exchanged silent glances, and without saying anything, they both knew what each other was thinking: that they needed a Hail Mary to break this case.

The door to the room opened, and Ryan poked his head in, causing Castle and Beckett to turn around.

"Captain wants to see you, Beckett," Was all Ryan said, and she made her way out of the room and out into the Bullpen. Johnson and McKenna were still there, and they were both giving her a look, as Lanie (whom Beckett was surprised to see) was attending to McKenna's broken nose.

'_Waste of her talent,'_ Beckett thought, returning the icy stare, before entering the Captain's office, and shutting the door.

"Have a seat," The Captain said, in a not so pleased tone, and she complied. "I want you to start by telling me what the hell happened out there."

Beckett looked the Captain in the eye, her mind going over a hundred different ways to tell the story (no doubt something she picked up from Castle). If he wanted the truth, she would give it to him.

"Those self-righteous bastards think they own the place," Beckett started to say.

"Detective!" Montgomery reprimanded.

"Do you want me to say I'm sorry? Fine. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that the NYPD has those two low-lives for Detectives."

"You know, Detective Beckett, I'm really disappointed in you. What kind of example are you setting? Hitting a colleague? You are lucky I talked him out of pressing assault charges!"

Beckett wanted to tell the Captain that luck had nothing to do with it. McKenna knew all to well that if he brought her down, she would take him with her. If only the Captain knew how many Rookie police officers were hazed by McKenna when they were first on the job, but were too afraid to speak out, fearing for their jobs. After all, the Commissioner's nephew could do no wrong.

However, she still knew that all actions had consequences.

"How long am I suspended for?"

Montgomery didn't know what to be more startled by: the fact that she physically assaulted an officer in the first place; or her lack of caring of the severity of this issue.

"I know you have been through a lot this past month Detective, with the robbery," Montgomery began to say. "And I spoke with the Commissioner. He agreed a write up in your file would suffice."

Beckett nodded her head in understanding.

"You are still the best homicide detective I have, but Kate, if losing your jewelry box is affecting you, maybe you should talk to somebody."

Beckett had already been through a year of therapy, and all good that it did her was to allow her to stop looking into her mother's murder investigation before it swallowed her whole.

"I won't disappoint you again, Captain. I'm sorry for that." And she truly was.

Beckett was about to get up and leave when the Captain looked at her.

"Oh, and Detective. That wasn't a suggestion," Montgomery said, as he placed a business card on the table, with the name of a psychiatrist on it. "You have an appointment in two hours."

* * *

BECKETT left the Captain's office and headed toward her desk, throwing the card to the side, next to her coffee cup. Detectives Johnson and McKenna were gone, and she was thankful for that.

"You sure did a number on his nose," Lanie said, coming up beside her best girl friend.

Beckett gave Lanie a half smile. "Sorry I dragged you away from your usual clientele. I'm surprised they even called you."

"Well, I am the only doctor on site," She half-joked. "However, I knew there was a reason why I preferred working with dead people. They don't complain as much."

"Did they have anything else to say?"

"Not really. Before they left they threw a few more dibs at Esposito and Ryan, but not much." Lanie looked down at the card on Beckett's desk, recognizing the name of the psychiatrist. "Andrea Watts. I went to med school with her."

"Yeah, well, now I'm going to have to talk to her for my outburst."

Lanie gingerly touched Beckett's arm. "He did, kind of, deserve it."

Lanie waved goodbye to Beckett, and headed for the elevators, having to head back down to the morgue. Castle, who was sitting at Ryan and Esposito's desk, got up and walked over to his muse.

"Sounded rough in there," He stated.

"I knew you were eaves dropping," Beckett replied, with a smile.

"I just wanted to make sure, you know, you were okay."

"Thanks, Castle. But I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

Castle didn't doubt that. However he couldn't help but notice she wasn't the usual Kate Beckett either. Sure, she would still laugh at his quips, and make some of her own - but she also got agitated quickly. But not that he blamed her entirely for that. He too would be agitated if he wasn't sleeping properly.

"Catch you later?" Beckett said, picking up the business card. "I have an mandatory appointment across town."

Castle nodded, and he watched Beckett throw her coat on, before heading out.

* * *

_July 1998_

"CRAP," Came Johanna's voice, as she heard her wedding ring clang against the kitchen sink pipes. She desperately tried to see if she could see it, to no avail.

Kate, who had heard her mother, entered the kitchen, with a book in her hand.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"My wedding ring. It fell down the sink," She replied.

"Didn't Dad warn you to take your ring off with these new sinks, considering the holes are large enough to say, fit a ring through them?"

Johanna looked at Kate, with a not so amused look. "I forgot, okay. With the dish soap, the ring just kind of slid off. Now your father is going to kill me..."

"Even better," Kate laughed. "He's going to use your four favorite words against you." She laughed again.

"If you are going to laugh at my expense, I would appreciate you do it in another room," Johanna said, and Kate waved goodbye, disappearing through the living room.

Sighing inwardly, Johanna turned back toward the sink, and starred at it, until she head clanging along with footsteps. When she turned back around, she saw Kate with her father's toolbox.

"What are you doing, Kate?" She asked.

"Getting your ring back before Dad gets home for dinner." She moved her mother aside and opened up the bottom drawers, and knelt down to inspect the pipes.

"Do you even know what you are doing?" Johanna asked, as soon as Kate found the right tool to unscrew one of the pipes.

"I saw Dad do this a couple, how hard can it be?"

It took a lot of strength, but she was finally able to loosen one of the pipes and take it off. She placed it down, and asked her mother to hand her the flashlight. It must have been her mother's lucky day, because the ring was stuck in the pipe. Grabbing a close hanger that her father had distorted, she stuck it in the pipe and fished out the ring. It was a little dirty, and it had a small scratch mark on it, but it was still good.

She handed it over to her mother, and then tried to reattach the pipe. That was a little trickier then she anticipated, but she finally got it back on.

"Okay mom, turn on the water. I want to make sure it's tight enough."

Johanna did, and as soon as she turned it on, Kate was screaming at her to turn it off. Apparently she hadn't reattached the pipe as good as she thought she had, and now she was soaked.

Johanna took one look at her daughter when she put her head up and began to laugh. "You look like a wet rat."

"Thanks Mom," She said, as she accepted the towel, and patted her face dry.

"A cute wet rat," Johanna clarified.

"What's going on in here?" Came Jim's voice as he stood in the doorframe of the kitchen. He was home early.

"Nothing," Kate lied, exchanging a look between her mother.

"Why are you all wet?" He asked, skeptical.

"I sprayed her," Johanna said.

"Your ring fell down the sink, didn't it?"

Kate and Johanna exchanged guilty looks.

Jim starred at the two of them, before slightly laughing. "I'll fix the sink." He walked over to where his girls were standing. "You look like a wet rat, Katie."

* * *

BECKETT walked into the office of Dr. Andrea Watts, and took a seat opposite from the doctor. Her office was very warm and inviting, and surprisingly, Andrea was too. She had a way of making you feel like you've been friends forever, even if you only met.

Once she was settled, Andrea wasted no time in beginning.

"How are you today, Katherine?" She asked.

"You can call me Kate or Beckett. No one ever really calls me Katherine," Beckett said.

"Which do you prefer?" Andrea asked.

"Either or."

Andrea noted it was a vague answer.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"Because my Captain phoned you and made me this appointment."

"That is one of the reasons, yes."

"Because I assaulted another Detective."

"Your Captain expressed some concern over your behavior as of late."

"Things just got a little heated," Beckett tried to justify.

"He also said you weren't normally like this. Did something happen you want to talk about?"

"My house was broken into a month ago."

"That must have been upsetting," Andrea commented.

"Most of the stuff is replaceable, and my insurance is covering it, so..."

"You said most. Is there something they took that can't be replaced?"

Beckett had to give Andrea credit. She was good.

"A jewelry box. It had my mother's wedding ring in it, and my father's watch."

"They are important to you, though."

"It's a long story," Beckett responded.

"I have time," Andrea reminded.

"It's the only thing I have left of my mother. She died."

"And your father's watch?"

"He took her death hard. He gave the watch to me when he recovered from alcoholism. My mother gave him the watch for their 17th anniversary." She smiled sadly.

"That must have been nice," Andrea said.

"Yeah, it was. She died two months later."

"Was your mother sick?"

"She was murdered."

"I'm sorry."

"I spent a year in therapy dealing with it," Beckett said, only half telling the truth. "To be honest, the Detective said something and I lost it. I know it was wrong of me."

"What did the Detective say?"

"He made a gesture, as if he found my jewelry box, but it wasn't my box, and then said it was gone, just like..."

"...Your mother?" Andrea asked.

"I hit him before he could say that, but it was implied."

"Kate, I can tell your mother's ring and father's watch must mean a lot to you, but you have to ask yourself this: Did losing those items make you feel like you lost your mother all over again? Are you grieving for the loss of your mother again?"

Beckett laid back in the chair, feeling as if the air had been sucked out of the room, surprised at how well Andrea was able to read her.

And then, in a moment that had surprised even her, the metaphorical brick wall she kept around herself came crumbling down, and for the first time, in ten years; she admitted what she had been denying for over eight years.

"I don't think I ever stopped."


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

"HELLO darling," Martha said the moment Castle stepped through the front door. Castle placed his things on the ground and made his way into the kitchen, where she was cooking dinner.

"Something smells good," Castle commented as he took a beer out of the fridge. "What is it?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Martha admitted. "I've been telling my acting students to be spontaneous, and I thought tonight I would be spontaneous with dinner." She paused for a moment, looking at the pot on the stove, and then grabbed one of the spices and put a couple of dashes on top of it before mixing it all together.

"It's either going to be really good, or really bad," She added.

"I'm sure it will be fine," He said, and he looked at the time on the kitchen clock. Alexis would be home from her after school activities soon.

"So, how was your day?" Martha asked, dividing her time between her son, and dinner.

"Exhausting," He said, not sure if he should tell his mother the exciting day he had with witnessing Beckett lose it, and punch another Detective - and all - but decided against it. He knew his mother had grown fond of Detective Beckett over poker games and surprise breakfast visits. His mother's maternal gear would go into overdrive, and he really didn't want to worry her.

"Is that case still ongoing?"

Castle nodded his head. "Still not much to go on, but we haven't closed it, either."

The front door suddenly opened, and they turned their attention toward it, as Alexis stepped through.

"Hello," She said, putting her stuff, and her father's stuff, into the bowl, before joining the three of them into the kitchen.

"You're home early," Alexis said to her father. "And something smells delicious. What is it?"

"Spontaneity," Castle said, and Alexis gave him and her grandmother a confused look.

"Trying something different," Martha explained.

"How was school?" Castle asked.

"Same old; same old. Ash made me a cupcake, isn't that sweet?"

"How romantic," Martha said.

"I know. He's so sweet to me," Alexis gushed.

"Young love..." Castle said, reminiscing about his youth.

"I'd like to have him over for dinner one night, if that's okay," Alexis said, looking at her father. Her eyes were almost pleading.

"Sure, why not?" Castle said, looking at his mother.

Alexis squealed happily. "Thanks, Dad!" She wrapped her arms around him, and he returned the hug.

"Speaking of dinner, it's ready."

* * *

THE next afternoon, Beckett dragged Castle back out to the last place the twins were known to have gotten off on the subway. She wanted to try and recreate their steps - figuring where they might have gone - and the park seemed like the perfect place to start.

Other then a young boy, around seven years old, who was swinging on the swings, the park was empty. Castle couldn't see the allure of coming here, especially to a park that was smaller then ones in Upper Manhattan, but he entertained the Detective, even if he was a little cynical.

"The first thing we have to ask is what would they be doing here?" Castle said to Beckett, once they were in the middle of the park. She was looking around, but other then nearby houses, which, from what Castle could tell, looked all like subsidized housing, there was nothing two wealthy young girls would be doing here.

"I don't know, Castle," Beckett said. "That's what _we're_ trying to find out."

A moment had passed in silence, neither having any good ideas, or places to start.

"Maybe aliens abducted them," Castle said, in a joking matter that only caused Beckett to give him a look.

"I highly doubt that's what happened to Adria and Lara," Beckett said.

And from across the park, by the swing area, in the tiniest voice, the little boy said: "I know an Adria and Lara."

Beckett and Castle looked at each other, each making sure they heard the little boy correctly. This could be the Hail Mary they were hoping for.

Beckett turned to the boy and approached him. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Adam," He said, bringing the swing to a halt.

"Adam, you said you knew Adria and Lara?"

He nodded his head. "They are nice. They bring me and my other brother and sister presents when they visit."

Beckett took out her badge, and showed it to Adam. "Adam, I'm a detective for the police. Is there anyway we can talk to your parents?"

Adam jumped off the swing, mesmerized by the badge. "Wow. Is that real? It's soooo cool"

Beckett nodded. "Do you want to hold it?"

Adam smiled as he took the badge and inspected it. "I want to be a police man when I grow up," He said proudly, which caused Castle to smile. He then handed it back to Beckett.

"Adam!" Came a raspy woman's voice, and she ran from her town house to the park, which wasn't far. "What have I told you about talking to strangers?"

Before Adam could explain, Beckett showed, what she presumed to be his mother, her badge.

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett, and this is Richard Castle. We have a few questions we need to ask you, if you don't mind."

The woman was slightly taken aback, but she quickly apologized for her flustering, and led the two of them back to her home.

* * *

THE home was small but quaint - perfect for a single mother raising three small children. Castle, in a way, had to admire Tanya. He often considered himself a single father while raising Alexis, but he was never really alone. His mother had been available for help, and Meredith was never really out of the picture. He couldn't picture raising three kids by himself, and he knew it must have been hard on Tanya, especially since her husband had died two years ago.

When Tanya had made sure the kids were okay in the other room, she finally joined Beckett and Castle in the living room, where toys were scattered about. She apologized for the mess, and tried her best to clean up, before she sat down.

"You'll have to forgive me," She began. "I usually don't expect guests, let alone the police. I don't know what I'm going to do with Adam. He's just a regular Chatty Kathy."

Both Beckett and Castle smiled at the reference.

"He's a good kid," Castle said, which made Tanya smile.

"I try. But my guess is you don't want to talk to me about my son."

"No," Beckett began. "Your son mentioned he knew an Adria and Lara."

Tanya nodded her head. "Yes, they are my nieces - my brother's kids. Are they in trouble or something?"

Beckett and Castle exchanged confused looks, before looking back at Tanya.

"Tanya...Adria and Lara were murdered," Beckett said sympathetically, as Tanya gasped.

"Oh my god. When?"

"A month ago," Castle said. "Your brother never told you?"

"My brother died when Adria and Lara were four - in a car accident," Tanya said, running her hands through her hair.

Beckett's eyes widened, realizing that Tanya was their biological aunt.

"When my brother and his wife died, I was, well, in no condition to take care of two small kids. Not that they would have asked me anyway. I was the black sheep, shunned from the family, and forced to survive on my own." Tanya kind of laughed at that. "Anyway, I knew they were put up for adoption, and then I spent years in and out of rehab trying to get myself clean, until I succeeded for good."

Tanya looked at the Detective, and then continued. "Two years ago, I get a knock at my door. My husband had just passed away and, well, it was a hard time for me. So, anyway, these two twin girls address themselves as Adria and Lara Kovac. I knew right away. They looked so much like my brother."

"What happened after?"

"They would come by every so often and visit. They would give me some money and bring toys for the kids. Adam, Taylor and Shannon adored them. They helped around a lot."

"On the night they were murdered, they were last seen getting off at this subway stop, but never got back on," Beckett told Tanya.

"I don't know. I assumed they were going back home to the Martins. I mean, they came here at 5:10, had dinner and played with the kids, and left ten minutes before seven."

Beckett made a mental note that the ETD was now 7-8pm.

"Did you notice anything weird about their behavior?" Castle asked, and Tanya was quiet for a moment, before she jumped off the couch.

"I didn't think much of it," Tanya said as she disappeared into another room. "But something did strike me as odd." She returned back to the living room with a two huge portfolios and handed them to Beckett. "One day they came over with these, asked me if they could keep these here, and told me not to look at it. I said okay and that was that."

"So you never peaked?" Castle asked, suddenly curious, and Tanya just shook her head.

"Did they say anything to you that night?" Beckett asked.

"The only thing they said was things are going to change."

Beckett looked over at Castle. They had heard that before, from Xander, who said the twins kept saying the exact same thing to him.

Both Beckett and Castle got up from the sofa, thanking Tanya for her time, as Tanya escorted them to the door.

"Detective," Tanya said, just as Beckett was about to leave.

"Yes?" Beckett asked.

"Are - are you sure they are really dead?" There was sadness in her voice.

"I'm sorry," Was all Beckett could say.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

THE contents of the two portfolios were now scattered all over Beckett's desk. Notebooks, upon notebooks, were filled with various writings, none of which Castle or Beckett could make out - as if it were written in code. There were also numbers listed, that they also couldn't make sense of.

Beckett placed one of the notebooks down, getting a headache from trying to figure out what the words were. She knew from early on that the twins were secretive, but she just didn't know how secretive they were until now, and exactly what secret they were keeping.

"Maybe they witnessed a murder," Castle said out of nowhere. "And they can't go to the police, so the only way they can deal with what they saw is to write about it in code - to vent. But then, the murderer realizes they are a liability so he stalks them, finds out their routine, and then when he gets the right opportunity he strikes and kills them."

"That's a good story, Castle," Beckett said, seriously, and Castle perked up in his chair. "For a Nikki Heat novel."

He slouched back down, disappointed.

"Let's stick with what we know," Beckett said, making her way over to the whiteboard, and changed the ETD to 7-8pm. She then wrote down the eight-digit number listed on one of the pages of the journal. She had run the number through the Internet, but came up with nothing. It was obviously important; they just couldn't figure it out.

Her attention shifted when she saw Ryan and Esposito enter the Bullpen.

"Any luck on the case?" Ryan asked as he made his way over to Castle, who was still sitting at Beckett's desk.

"Just found some journals with secret code writing," Castle answered, as Ryan took a look.

"Wow, it's like a whole different language," He stated.

"It's not," Castle said. "We ran it through translation - it came up with nothing."

"So you think they made their own language up?" Esposito asked.

"It's not uncommon for twins to do that, but without the legend or code they used to make the language - we have nothing," Castle added.

"What about those numbers?" Ryan asked, pointing to the whiteboard, where Beckett had written down an eight-digit number moments before Esposito and Ryan entered.

"We don't know. We've run it through the Internet but it doesn't match any serial number we know. We think it might be a password, or another code to something," Beckett answered.

Esposito was looking at the number. "Maybe you are looking at it wrong." He walked over to the board and picked up a marker, alternating a circle and an apostrophe between each second digit.

"Longitude and latitude," Castle said, as Beckett went to her computer and typed in the coordinates. Within moments, she was given an address.

"What is it?" Esposito asked, once he saw Beckett's furrowed face.

"It says the coordinates are for the New York Law School."

"What would they be doing at a Law School?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know," Beckett said as she grabbed her coat. "But maybe we should find out."

Castle got up from his chair. "I love road trips!"

* * *

ONCE they arrived at the Law school, they made their way to the student services centre, thinking that was a good place to start.

There was a young male student at the desk, reading one of his law books, however he quickly shut it when he saw Beckett and Castle.

"How can I help you?" He asked, as Beckett showed him her badge.

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett. I was wondering if you could help us."

"Sure," He said. "Anything for the police."

"Want to be a criminal lawyer?" Castle asked, and the young man just laughed.

"Corporate. But I respect all facets of the law."

"We need to see if there is any record of an Adria and Lara Martin in your system."

The young male was about to type something, when he stopped. "Don't you need a warrant for that?"

"They are murder victims," Beckett said. "We are trying to find out who killed them."

The young male seemed skeptical, but he typed the names in anyway. "No. Sorry. No record of an Adria or Lara Martin."

"How about Kovac? K-o-v-a-c."

"Sorry Detective," The student said, when that name came up empty too. "Are you sure they were students here?"

"No. We just know that they have been on this campus," Castle said.

"Well, the campus is big, but there really aren't a lot of people. Do you have a picture of them?"

Beckett took out the photo of the twin girls and handed it to the young male.

"I know who these girls are," He said. "I've seen them talking to Professor Morth all the time."

"Do you know where we can find Professor Morth?"

The young male looked at his watch. "He's lecturing right now, but he'll be done in twenty minutes. He's in Lecture Hall C, which is down the hall and to your right."

"Thanks," Beckett said as she took the picture back, and followed Castle to the lecture hall.

* * *

BECKETT and Castle both pushed their way through the crowd of law students, who were exiting the fairly large lecture hall, as they made their way down to the Professor, who was packing up his things.

"Professor Morth," Beckett said, which caused the Professor to look at her.

"If you are here to complain about how boring my lectures are, I'm afraid there isn't much I can do about that," He said jokingly, with a smile on his face.

"Actually, I'm Detective Kate Beckett," She said, showing the Professor her badge. "And this is Richard Castle. We have a few questions for you, if you don't mind."

This threw the Professor off. "Yeah, sure. We can go to my office."

The Professor led the two of them into his office, which was also a fair size, and offered the Detective and writer a seat, and asked if they would like a coffee. When they politely declined, he took his seat opposite his desk.

"Detective Beckett, before we begin, I just have one question for you," He said. "Are you related to Johanna Beckett?"

Now it was Beckett's turn to be thrown back. "She's my mother."

"I knew it. You look just like her. She and I used to teach at Columbia together. Shame what happened. I really am sorry."

"Thank you," Beckett said. "But there is a reason why we are here."

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry."

Beckett took out a picture and placed it on his desk. "You know these girls?"

Morth nodded his head. "Adria and Lara. I saw their picture in the news, when they were found murdered. One day found them sitting in my lecture once, and I knew they weren't students. I confronted them, but they wanted my help. They had all these questions about the law."

"What did you do?" Beckett asked.

"I answered their questions. I found it kind of odd, but they really seemed into my lectures, so I thought who is it going to hurt. It's not like they can get a law degree just by listening, so I let them come to my lectures, and after lecture they would have some questions that I would answer."

"What kind of questions?"

"Mostly on human rights, and consent. They once asked me how they would go about in suing someone for money."

"Did they say who?" Castle asked, and Morth shook his head.

"No. I tried to get more information on that from them, but they would just give vague answers. Then about three months prior to their murder, they stopped coming to my lectures, so I figured they got what they needed."

"Their parents said Adria and Lara appeared mentally slow," Castle began, and the Professor laughed.

"Sorry, Mr. Castle. But those girls were hardly slow. A little odd, yes, but if I had to put money on it, I think they both had a photographic memory. I mean-" Morth went into his desk and fished out a notebook, similar to the one found in the portfolios, and handed it to them.

"Those notes are my whole lecture, word for word. I couldn't even take notes like that."

"They let you keep this?" Castle asked.

"No. It must have fallen out of their bag, or something. I was going to give it back to them, but they never came back."

* * *

BACK at the precinct, Castle was going over the journals. Even Ryan and Esposito were helping by trying to decipher exactly what the twins had written in their notebooks to no avail.

"Man, I really wish I had one of those spy rings," Castle said, and that automatically obtained the interest of Esposito and Ryan.

"Those things were so cool," Ryan said.

"I begged my father to buy me one for weeks," Esposito added.

"Really guys?" Beckett said from her side of the desk. "You think a spy ring is going to crack this?"

The three males exchanged looks, and in unison they all said, 'yeah' - as if it was the most obvious answer.

Beckett rolled her eyes, and then focused back down on one of the journals. "Well, the only thing we know so far is that one of them was left handed."

"How do you know that, Beckett?" Ryan asked, leaning over, and then put up to notebooks.

"The writing in this notebook is slanted and smudged, so it's as if she was trying to avoid the notebooks spiral. My mom used to do it all the time when she wrote."

"A left and right handed pair of twins - almost like they were each other's mirror," Ryan said, leaning back down in his chair.

All of a sudden Castle's eyes widened, as if he had an epiphany, a small smile appearing across his face. "Genius." He grabbed one of the notebooks he was holding and flew off his chair, making his way to the men's washroom, the three detectives following.

"Castle, what are you doing?" Beckett asked, as she entered the washroom followed by Ryan and Esposito.

"You remember Da Vinci's work, right?" Castle asked, looking at each Detective.

"Sort of. He wrote in some sort of code so people couldn't read his writing," Esposito answered.

"Well it wasn't so much a code as it was something that was really hard to read, unless..." He opened one of the notebooks and placed it in front of the mirror.

"You had a mirror," Beckett said in amazement as the text became readable.

And in capital letters, one word stood out to the four of them: PROJECT GEMINI.


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13**

EACH detective, plus Castle, had taken a journal home to read, each hoping to unravel the biggest break in the case they had. Captain Montgomery was more then pleased to hear this development, and was confident enough to allow his three best detectives to work solely on closing this case, diverting other homicides to the other detectives in the precinct.

Beckett, as per usual, was the first one to arrive in the morning. Having gone through one of the journals, she hadn't obtained much new information, other then that Project Gemini appeared to be a science experiment.

Correction - a human science experiment. However, she couldn't tell if the twins were the ones doing the experiment, or if they were the ones being experimented on. Regardless of the case, she was hoping Castle, and her two male Detectives, could fill in the rest of the blanks.

After a few minutes, Esposito, Ryan, and Castle all began to show up at the precinct. Castle, as always, had brought everyone coffee and donuts - but Beckett couldn't think about food. She was too eager to solve this case.

"Please tell me you have something," Beckett said, only taking a coffee.

Castle nodded his head. "I was working in the lab late one night, when my eyes beheld such an eerie sight; for my monster from his slab began to rise and suddenly"-

"Castle!" Beckett scolded, interrupting him. "Those are the lyrics to The Monster Mash."

"I know," Castle said. "Such a great Halloween song."

"What does this have to do with our case?" Beckett asked.

"I was just - well, when I was reading one of the journals, the song just popped into my head. "

Beckett rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Beckett. Doesn't this remind you a little of my Frankenstein theory?"

"Frankenstein was the scientist," Beckett reminded. "Not the monster."

"Everything is so detailed," Esposito said, shifting the topic back to focus. "From the color of the walls in the room, right down to each piece of surgical equipment. I got the impression while reading one of the journals that they were the ones being experimented on."

"Which brings me back to Castle's point," Ryan suddenly said, remembering how Castle had told Esposito and him his Dr. Frankenstein theory. "I found another set of numbers. You won't believe what the coordinates lead to."

"Dr. Roker's office building," Beckett said.

"Bingo," Ryan added.

"Are my theories spot on, or what?" Castle said, putting his hands out so Ryan and Esposito could Feed the Birds.

Beckett's eyes suddenly widened, as if she remembered something, and she reached for the phone, causing the three guys to look at her. After a moment of ringing, Tanya's voice could be heard saying hello, before Beckett put her on speaker.

"Tanya, this is Detective Kate Beckett. I just have a quick question for you."

"Sure," Tanya said, as children laughing could be heard in the background.

"Do you know if Adria and Lara were in the car when their parents had the accident?"

"No way. They were with their baby sitter," Tanya said. "Besides, the NY Ledger posted a picture of the wreck, or more specifically what was left of the car. The impact caused the car to catch fire and explode. No one could have survived that, especially two small children."

"There was scarring on Adria and Lara - do you know if they had surgery before their parents died?"

"Even though I was the black sheep, my brother still let me see my nieces from time to time, and kept me updated. All I ever saw was that they were healthy and happy. I mean, it's possible, but my brother used to tell me everything about the girls, even when they got scraped knees or elbows, so I'm sure he would have told me if they needed surgery." Tanya paused. "It's also possible that they needed surgery after they were adopted. I wasn't in touch with them after that so..."

"Thanks for your time, Tanya," Beckett said, before hanging up the phone. She then walked over to the whiteboard, adding in new information.

"You think the adoption agency sold out the twins to Roker?" Esposito asked.

"Or the Martins could have," Castle suggested. They had never really looked at the Martins for suspects, but now they had either caught them in a lie, or the Martins simply got caught up in the adoption agency's lie.

"Right now, the only thing we know for sure is that the twins have mentioned Roker," Beckett said.

"Are you going to go speak to him again?" Ryan asked.

"Pick him up. If he wants to play, we'll play, but it's going to be on my terms and on my turf. And while he's in custody, we'll get a search warrant to obtain anything in his office."

* * *

DOCTOR Michael Roker looked completely relaxed as he sat alone in the interrogation room, a small smug smile on his face as he waited.

And Beckett made him wait - watching him through the one way glass as he shifted his position, sipped the coffee Castle had bought him, played with the cuffs on his shirt, and even, for five minutes, closed his eyes as if he was taking a nap.

"You have a game plan?" Castle asked, who was standing beside her. Esposito and Ryan, who had finished searching Roker's office, were also in the room, watching the Doctor that had all rubbed them the wrong way.

Beckett smiled a smile that matched Roker's. Interrogating was like an art to her, and she would paint a picture of how Roker illegally preformed human experiments on the twins, and maybe even have him confess to their murders. And in a complete calmness, she headed out of the room, and toward the door where Roker was waiting and opened it.

"About time," Roker said from his seat. "I almost thought you forgot about me." He laughed, but Beckett just slammed the door, causing him to jump a little.

Beckett made her way to the table, taking the seat opposite to him, not once saying a word, while she placed down her bag, and the folder she was holding on the table.

"So, are you going to tell me why I'm here? Ask me some more redundant questions?"

Beckett still didn't say anything; instead, she brought the folder closer to her and opened it, looking at the contents.

"Detective, if you are going to waste my time, I might as well leave."

This time Beckett looked at him, but still didn't speak.

"I'll have you know, that I am here by my own volition. I am free to leave whenever I want."

"And yet you haven't," Beckett said. She was now back to looking at the contents of the folder, not even looking at him while she spoke.

"Only because I want to end this ridiculous accusation that I am guilty of something. You know, since you and that awful crime novelist came into my office, my patients are wondering what kind of heinous act I committed, which is preposterous. And now having you kick out my patients to search my office...Once this is all said and done, I would like a formal apology from the NYPD. In the paper."

"Well, Mr. Roker"-

"Dr. Roker, Detective. I have standing, and an important job, unlike you."

Beckett just gave a half a smile. "As I was saying, _Mr. Roker_, if it turns out that you are innocent of any wrong doing, you will get your formal apology in the paper. It's just your luck, that we have someone with us who is an excellent writer, and will do your name justice."

The Doctor just laughed. "Do you think this is funny, Detective? My reputation is being tarnished, and I've been here for over forty-five minutes, and so far we haven't done anything to work toward a resolution."

"We aren't on two different boats here," Beckett said. "I want a resolution too. So, I am going to ask you again - and you may want to think long and hard about your answer. Do you know Adria and Lara?"

"No. Like I said before. I don't know them."

Now it was Beckett's turn to laugh. "Is that your final answer?"

The Doctor smiled. "What are we on a game show now?" He started to reach for his coffee cup, but Beckett grabbed it first, throwing it against the wall. She now had his attention.

"Adria and Lara were smart, Dr. Roker. They kept records of everything. How the room's walls were a white with a tint of grey, and how it smelt like disinfectant, and how each surgical tool was meticulously lined up in alphabetical order from the clamps, all the way down to the scalpels."

Beckett noticed how quickly Dr. Roker's expression changed. She had hit a nerve, and now he was nervous.

"There's more," Beckett continued. "They mention a man who smelled like Clive Christian, a cologne their biological father used to wear, a cologne -" Beckett reached down into her bag and pulled out a bottle of cologne in an evidence bag, more specifically a Clive Christian cologne - "you also wear."

Dr. Roker went quiet for a moment, starring at the bottle, putting a hand over his mouth.

"You don't have anything to say?" Beckett said.

Dr. Roker removed the hand from his mouth, a smile back on his face. "Yeah. I want my lawyer."

"I hate this guy," Castle said as soon as Beckett rejoined the guys in the other room. Beckett had thought she had gotten under his skin, but instead he had gotten under hers.

"His lawyer will let him walk," Beckett said in disappointment. "And we still have nothing connecting him to the murders."

"We saw his face, Beckett. He's guilty of something," Esposito said.

"We have to dig deeper," Beckett sighed. "Do we know what adoption agency the Martins used?"

Ryan nodded his head, handing Beckett the address. If they were going to get answers, they were going to have to do it the old fashioned way by doing legwork, and working a lot of overtime.

But to Beckett, it was a small price to pay to nail this bastard.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

UNFORTUNATELY for Castle and Beckett, the adoption agency that had placed the twins had not been so diligent in updating their files into the computer system - only getting as far as registering call numbers. Georgina, the manager of the agency, had told Castle and Beckett that they were more then welcome to search for the file themselves in the Archive Room, which was located in the basement of the Agency.

Castle had to admit that he underestimated the size, and the creepiness of the archive room. All he could see was endless rows of boxes on endless rows of shelves - and he knew they were going to be there for a while. It also didn't help that the Archive Room was poorly lit.

Beckett glanced over at Castle, who was looking at all the shelves, practically mesmerized. Sometimes she wondered what went on in that writer head of his.

After a moment, Castle broke the silence. "You know, this Archive Room would be the perfect set-up for a Nikki Heat novel. It's big, and certainly scary enough."

"You are going to make Nikki Heat look through a bunch of boxes for a file?" Beckett asked, taking back what she had thought earlier about what goes on in Castle's mind.

"No. Not a file. Something more interesting...A bomb! Strategically planted in a box that contains crucial evidence, and Nikki Heat has thirty minutes to find it before she, the evidence, and the building go bye-bye...it's genius."

"Why would Nikki Heat be looking for a bomb? That's not what she does, and even if she found it, she wouldn't be able to disarm it. Bomb Squad would take care of that."

Castle raised his hands up in the air, as if he was defeated. "Don't you have any imagination at all?"

Beckett ignored him, heading toward the isle that started with C94, and began to look at the boxes for the last digits.

"At least they kept it organized," Castle said, and began to look at the numbers on the boxes. There was silence as the two of them looked, and after fifteen minutes, Castle spoke.

"I think I found it," He said, which caused Beckett to stand up.

"Where?" She asked, and he pointed to the top shelf, which both of them couldn't reach.

"There a ladder around here somewhere?" Castle asked, while looking around. He hadn't seen one in any other of the shelve isles, but he still continued to look for one, anyway, leaving the isle he was in.

"Maybe we should ask Georgina for-" Castle stopped himself, once he returned back to Beckett, who was climbing the shelves. "Beckett, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She said, somewhat sarcastically.

"Um...killing yourself?"

"Just give me a hand, will you?"

"What if the shelves come down?" Castle asked, still skeptical. Not only could Beckett hurt herself by doing this, but he could get hurt too.

"What's worse? The shelves coming down, or you not helping me, and I come down."

Castle thought about that for a moment, and then quickly went over to Beckett, who handed him the box that they needed.

Once she was down, he opened the box. There were two file folders laying side by side, one labeled Adria Kovac, and the other Lara Kovac. They each took one and began reading.

"Doesn't say anything about them having surgery," Beckett said, flipping through the pages.

"Yeah, and they were adopted pretty quickly too. Most kids usually end up in foster care first. They were adopted straight out of Child Protective Custody, within two days since their parents died."

Beckett put down the folder, and looked through the box again. She pulled out another file that was underneath the twins' file. This one had the Martin's name written on top of that. She opened it and continued to read.

"The Martin's were pretty adamant about adopting twins," Beckett commented. "And not just any set of twins. They had to be identical."

"That's kind of...odd."

"If you think that is odd, you are going to love this." Beckett looked directly at Castle. "The Adoption Agency listed the Martin's financial situation as Middle Class."

"Middle Class? The Martin's are practically richer then I am."

"So they either inherited money, or sold their children out."

* * *

WHEN Castle and Beckett got back to the precinct, Ryan was waiting for them.

"Please tell me you pulled up the Martin's financial records," Beckett said once she came up to Ryan.

"And I'll give you the cliff notes. Apparently the Martin's were broke. Middle Class doesn't even begin to describe their situation in the 90s."

"How is it even possible for them to adopt then?" Castle asked.

Esposito, who was exiting the break room with coffee for himself and Ryan, answered. "They lied. They forged their accounts. They used Ben's sister's financial records. Adoption Agency thought it was legit, they didn't dig deeper."

"Who would anyway? The Martin's come off like the perfect nuclear family."

"It get's juicier, Castle," Ryan said. "Two months after they adopted, they deposit 200,000 grand cash. Untraceable."

"Think that's from Roker?" Beckett asked.

"Can't tell. But if I had to put money on it, I would say yes," Esposito answered.

"Where did they get the millions from then?" Castle asked.

"From the twins' biological grandfather. He died of Alzheimer disease a year after. In his will, the family fortune would have gone to his son, but since he died, it now went to Adria and Lara's legal guardians."

"The Martin's..." Beckett said.

"You said Adria and Lara have a biological aunt, why didn't the family fortune go to her?" Esposito asked.

"She was the black sheep of the family. They must of cut her out of the will when she was a drug addict," Castle said.

"I guess they weren't kidding when they said Adria and Lara were their good luck charms," Ryan added.

"But still," Beckett said. "What would be motive for killing them?"

The four of them went silent.

"Well, one thing that wasn't answered was what the twins meant by 'Things are going to change'," Ryan reminded.

"We answer that question, and we most likely have our motive," Esposito said.

"Castle and I will pay a visit to the Martin's tomorrow," Beckett said. "Right now it's late. We should all get some rest."

* * *

BECKETT was exhausted - mentally, physically, and even emotionally. The second she came through her apartment door, she threw her stuff on the ground and made her way to her bedroom where she collapsed on her bed. This case was getting to her, and to make matters worse, Roker was also getting to her. Murder is never really motiveless, so there was a reason why someone wanted to kill those twins, and so far Roker was the ideal suspect. But in the back of her mind, there was a whisper that had been nagging at her the second Roker came onto her radar. And that nagging voice was saying that they weren't thinking outside the box, and they were trying too hard to package everything up nicely.

She hadn't told anyone, at least not yet, about her suspicions. After all, she really had no basis for them to begin with, and even though Roker could have been the one to kill the girls, she doubted he was the only one. It didn't make sense for the girls to have been with him after visiting their aunt's home willingly, especially since they knew the twins had confronted him the day of their murder. Also, it was highly unlikely that Roker had kidnapped both girls by himself. However, Beckett couldn't prove that there were other people involved. That's why she needed to speak to the Martin's again; to see if they had sold out the twins for money when they were younger and if they knew Roker. Once she got those answers, they could arrest Roker for doing illegal human experiments and then sweat him out until he confessed to murder, and maybe see who had helped Roker.

Beckett grabbed her gun and her badge, placing it on her nightstand, along with her cellphone. Her eyes were beginning to close, as the blissfulness of sleep began to wash over her.

* * *

_January 9th 1999_

THE car ride back home was filled with laughter, as Jim and Kate came up with excuses as to why Johanna had forgotten to show up to the diner. It was unusual for Johanna to forget something, but sometimes school would become exceptionally busy and she would be held up, but even then, she would have at least called.

Jim was about to pull into the driveway, when he saw a man sitting on their porch steps. He exchanged a look with his daughter, and once he had parked the car and turned it off, he and Kate stepped out, only to have the mystery man meet them halfway.

"Can I help you?" Jim asked, and the man, who was in his early forties, pulled out a badge.

"Mr. Beckett, I'm Detective Raglan."

"How can I help you, Detective?" Jim asked, as Kate exchanged looks between her father and the Detective.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news about your wife," Raglan said with sympathy in his voice.

"Was she in a car accident?" Jim asked, but then realized how stupid that question was. They never sent detectives to notify a family about a car accident, just patrol officers. "Sorry, what kind of Detective are you again?" Jim asked, feeling a lump in his throat.

Raglan paused for a moment. "Homicide."

Kate turned to look at her Dad, who had put a hand up to his mouth.

"I'm sorry for your loss," The Detective continued.

Kate felt herself pale, Raglan's words echoing in her mind in fragments.

"I know this is going to be hard for you, but we need you two to come with me," Raglan said, and Jim just nodded. Raglan pointed to his car that was waiting, and Jim and Raglan began to walk toward the car.

It was only when Jim got to the passenger side door did he realize that his daughter had not followed them, and that she was still standing in the same spot on the driveway.

"Kate," He called, but she didn't turn around or acknowledge him. "Katie." Jim turned to look at Raglan who gave him a moment, and he walked back up to his daughter, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Katie, we have to go," He said gently, and he guided her to Raglan's car.

Kate didn't even remember how she got to the crime scene, but the flashing blue and red lights of the police cruisers had brought her back to reality, and the first think she noticed was that an ally had been taped off.

Jim turned around to face his daughter. "Stay in the car, sweetie."

Kate watched as the two men got out, and made their way to the crime scene. Shortly after, she found herself unbuckling her seat belt, and opening the car door, following them from behind. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and the police officers didn't even try to stop her as she lifted up the police tape and walked under it.

The first thing she noticed was that her mother's left hand was sticking out of the bloodied white sheet, her unique wedding ring visible, and Kate knew.

"Mom," Kate said in a bare whisper, and then even louder she shouted, "Mom!" As if that was going to wake her up.

Jim turned around, not even noticing that Kate had followed him and Raglan. Tears were streaming down his face, and he ran over to Kate and embraced her, before she could get any closer.

Kate had started to sob now, and burrowed her face in her father's chest as he tried his best to comfort her. He rested his head on top of hers, and hugged her with fierceness, as his own tears streamed freely down his cheeks, the whole time wondering how this was ever going to be okay.

* * *

LANIE walked into the Bullpen the next morning, with a folder in her hand, hoping to catch Beckett before she left to question the Martin's. As a favour, to Beckett, she had looked into the pictures and found something quite interesting.

"What brings you to this corner of paradise?" Castle asked, popping out of the break room, once he saw Lanie. "Here to mend another broken nose?"

"Maybe I just couldn't get enough of your irresistible face," Lanie said, winking at Castle.

"Really?" Castle said, with a smile on his face.

"No. I'm here for my girl, Beckett. You know where she is?"

"She's late today," Esposito said from his desk.

"Very unusual for her," Ryan added.

Lanie crossed her arms. "Girl could be snowed in, and she'd still make it to work on time. Where is she really?"

"In the Captain's office," Castle said. "He wanted to speak to her about something."

"You two are not funny, you know that right?" She then turned to Castle. "And you, where is my bear claw?"

"I don't have it," Castle answered in a child-like voice. "I'll bring one for you next time?"

"I wouldn't hold your breath, Lanie," Beckett said, stepping out of the Captain's office.

"Wasn't planning on to," Lanie answered, walking over to Beckett's desk. "I looked into the pictures like you asked. Sorry it took me so long, I've been kind of busy."

"What did you find?" Beckett asked, as the three males joined them around Beckett's desk.

Lanie opened the file, taking out the two autopsy pictures, and pointing to the faint scars that she had run over with a marker.

"See those?" She said, and the four of them nodded. "That scarring is usually typical of people who have had kidney transplants."

"He took out their kidneys?" Ryan asked.

"No," Lanie said. "When I did the autopsy they both had both their kidneys. If I had to make a lucky guess, I think he may have switched them. Put one of twin's A kidney into twin B, and vice versa."

"Why would anyone want to do that - it's sick, especially if the girls were healthy." Esposito commented.

"And four years old," Castle added. As a father, he couldn't imagine why any parent would allow that to happen to their child - let alone a child.

"Probably to see, for his own sick pleasure, if their bodies would reject the each other's kidney. It's dangerous. This guy should be locked up," Lanie said. "And then have his medical license taken away."

Beckett got up from her chair, thanking Lanie for the information. "Let's pay the Martin's a visit. Maybe now they'll rethink their answer on whether or not they know Dr. Roker."

* * *

BECKETT pulled her car in the Martin's driveway, and turned it off, before turning to Castle.

"We don't want to make them appear as suspects," Beckett said, once she had his attention.

"How are you going to do this?" Castle asked.

"I'll play the sympathetic card - understand their financial situation at the time. More they trust me, the more likely they'll open up about Roker."

Castle nodded. "So, I guess I'm just an observer this time?"

Beckett smiled and nodded. "Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated." She was just about to exit the car, when Castle's cell phone began to ring.

"It's Alexis," He said.

"I can wait," Beckett said, but Castle just shook his head.

"No. You go. Just give me the cliff notes version after. Besides, it won't be fun for me if I can't talk."

"You sure?" And Castle just nodded.

Once Beckett was out of the car, and making her way up the steps to the front door, Castle answered the phone.

"Alexis, what's up?" He asked, while keeping an eye on Beckett. He saw Ben Martin lead her into the house and shut the door.

"Sorry to bother you, Dad. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"No," Castle reassured, now focusing on the phone conversation.

"Ashley invited me to dinner tonight with his parents."

"You can go," Castle said.

"Thanks, but it's not that...it's...I'm nervous...I mean, what if they don't like me?" Alexis said, her voice sounding slightly agitated.

"Alexis, honey, it's you. What's not to like? Ashley adores you, so his family will too."

Alexis went quiet.

"Look, meeting the parents is always hard. You remember my Kyra story, when I met her mother."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? She hated you."

"Yeah..." Castle said, reminiscing, as if it were a good memory. "But the point is, you, for whatever reason, are not me. They will love you. Just be Alexis, and not what you think they want you to be, because that will make things worse."

"Thanks for the advice Dad. You always have a way of making me feel better."

"One of my better qualities," He joked. "I love you, Alexis. See you later tonight."

"Love you, too, Dad. Bye."

Once Castle hung up the phone, he turned his attention back to the door. Beckett had been in there for at least five minutes now, and he wondered how it was going, and if they were getting the information they needed.

He decided, while he was waiting, to play on his phone, testing out new apps, and even played a quick game of monopoly. However, his game was interrupted when a silver Lexus car, with heavily tinted windows, sped past him on the Martin's driveway.

"Woah!" Castle said, trying to see where the car had come from, and he rushed out of the car door, but it was too late, it was already half way down the block, and he could not make out the license plate. He cursed at himself for not noticing the car earlier.

He then turned his attention toward the front door, and decided to go tell Beckett what he saw. When he knocked on the door, and no one answered, he opened it and stepped inside.

"Beckett?" He called out, but there was no answer. He continued to call her name, while looking through the rooms. He stopped himself abruptly, when he approached the living room, as he saw a pair of legs hoisted in a 90-degree angle on the floor. He decided to get closer, only to notice that it was Beckett on the ground, and she was clutching her abdomen.

"Beckett," He said, and as he made his way closer to her, that's when he noticed the blood slowly pooling around Beckett.

"Oh God," He said, and pulled out his phone, calling an ambulance. Beckett was still conscious, and looking at Castle. "Hi, yes, I have an officer down. Need medical assistance ASAP."

He knelt down beside her, after giving dispatch the address. "Hang in there, okay? Help is coming."

"Mart...Martin's in on it..." Beckett tried to say, but she was wincing in pain, and gasping. "Dr. Ro...surprised...didn't have time to..."

"Kate, don't try and talk, okay. Save your strength." But, it was no use, she didn't listen. Her legs suddenly fell to the ground, causing more blood to spill, and she grabbed Castle's shirt, still trying to tell him something, as he applied pressure to where she had been stabbed.

"Mon...Money...that's the mo...tive..." She gasped in pain again, and tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"Just keep your focus on me," Castle said. "Try not to talk, okay." He looked down at Beckett, and tried to listen for sirens, but none could be heard. He started to curse at himself, and there was no way he was going to let Beckett die.

He looked over at her again, blood staining both their clothes, and he saw her eyes starting to roll.

"Beckett, stay with me, okay?" He said, and he could tell she was trying so hard to stay conscious. He slapped her face gently when her eyes closed for a moment, hoping the painful stimuli would cause her to open her eyes again. After all, he had seen it done on cop procedural shows many times before.

"Come on Kate," He said. "Open your eyes, stay with me. Please." His voice was desperate, and if there was a god, at this moment he was praying to all of them.

But she was starting to get colder, and putting pressure on the wound wasn't helping much, as blood still found a way to escape. Her pulse was getting weaker, and Castle couldn't wake her up, and the only thing going through his head was that he was going to lose her.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15**

IF this were his novel, Nikki Heat would have had the upper hand. The psycho-murderer, even if he had just sliced Nikki (maybe enough to warrant stitches), she still would have been on him in one full sweep, making snide remarks on how he would be enjoying the rest of his life in Sing-Sing. After all, Nikki Heat was strong and unstoppable. If bad things happened to her, she would always prevail - no matter what.

However, this wasn't one of Castle's novels, and Kate Beckett wasn't Nikki Heat. Castle could at least protect Nikki Heat if he wanted to, while Kate Beckett was left fighting for her life.

"Castle."

Castle looked up once he heard Esposito's voice. He, Ryan, Lanie, and Captain Montgomery, were now in the Hospital's waiting room.

"What happened?" Lanie asked, concern in her voice. She noticed Castle looked tired and aged in a matter of hours. His clothes were covered in Kate's blood, and there was a visible handprint on his shirt. There was also some blood smeared on his face, as if he had forgotten his hands were covered in it, and wiped his face.

"She said Roker surprised her, and that the Martin's were in on the murder. Something about it being a money motive, but she passed out before she could say anymore."

"We put an APB out on a silver Lexus with heavily tinted windows," Ryan said. "Dr. Roker has a Lexus registered in his name, but he hasn't returned home yet."

"Well, the Martin's are with them, and probably with their son too," Castle said.

"Their son is with his aunt," Esposito said. "We'll catch them. They won't be going anywhere."

Castle knew they would. Beckett meant a lot to every one of them, she was practically a sister to them.

"Has there been any word on her condition?" Montgomery asked, but Castle couldn't answer, because in the distance he saw Jim Beckett enter, with a look on his face that only a father could recognize; a look that he would have on his face if anything like this ever happened to Alexis.

Montgomery noticed Castle staring, and he turned around to see Jim. He had met Beckett's father twice, at an annual police ball. He couldn't imagine the pain Jim must be feeling right now.

Jim noticed Montgomery and made his way toward him. "Where's Katie?" He asked, and then he noticed Castle sitting on the chair, and the blood that was on him. "Oh God," He said, and Montgomery and Lanie helped him sit down onto a chair.

Castle turned to face Jim, and for the first time, words escaped him. "I'm sorry," Was all he could say.

The six of them waited in silence, a doctor coming out once to tell them that she was still in surgery. After another moment of silence passed, Jim stood up.

"I need some air," He said, and then left.

Castle to, decided to follow him out, even though Esposito tried to stop him. He knew Kate would want him to look after her father for her.

"Mr. Beckett?" Castle said, once they were outside. The mid-afternoon heat did nothing to make Castle feel better.

Jim turned around.

"I'm...I'm really sorry," He said, and he was. If he had gone into the house with Beckett, he would have been able to help her.

"You're Richard Castle, right?" Jim asked, and Castle nodded his head. "I bought a couple of your books for Katie for Christmas once." He kind of smiled. "She says you are a pain in the ass."

Castle nodded his head in agreement. Beckett was a good judge of character. He noticed that Jim was staring at the bloody handprint on his shirt.

"Johanna was the love of my life," Jim suddenly said. "When she was murdered, I didn't think I'd ever be able to function again or handle it. And I didn't handle it. I turned to alcohol to numb the pain."

Castle didn't say anything, just continued to listen.

"If I didn't have Katie, I think I would have drank myself to death. I don't know what would happen to me if I lost her too."

"Kate is the strongest woman I know. She'll pull through."

'_She has to.'_ Castle thought.

Esposito suddenly ran out, causing Castle and Jim to look at him.

"Beckett's out of surgery. She's still unconscious, but she is stable."

Castle and Jim looked at each other, each breathing a sigh of relief as they made their way back into the hospital.

* * *

BY the time Castle got home, it was 9:00pm. Beckett still hadn't woke up, but the doctors assured all of them that it wasn't uncommon, considering the amount of blood that had been lost. However, just as a precaution, they were keeping her in the ICU ward, but they were very optimistic that she would make a full recovery.

"Richard, darling, you are just in time," Martha said from the kitchen. "Alexis and I are baking cookies for her school fundraiser, and you are our designated sampler."

Castle made his way into the kitchen, and his mother and daughter both had the same expression on his face when they saw his clothes.

"Oh my God, Dad, are you alright?" Alexis asked, dropping the wooden spoon that was in her hand.

"I'm fine," Castle reassured.

"Darling, what happened? Whose blood is that?"

"Beckett's. She got stabbed in the line of duty today."

The two of them exchanged looks.

"Is she alright?" Alexis asked. She had grown quite fond of the detective.

"She is in stable condition, but they are keeping a close eye on her. Her father is with her now."

Martha looked at her son. "How did it happen?"

"She went in to talk to the twins adoptive parents. One of the suspects, he surprised Beckett."

"Were you with her at the time?"

Castle shook his head. "I was about to go in with her, but then Alexis phoned, so I told her she could go in herself."

Alexis suddenly felt a massive amount of guilt. "If I hadn't phoned over something so trivial, then you would have been in there and you could have stopped her from getting hurt."

"Or you could have stopped them from both getting killed," Martha reminded, and Castle had to agree.

"This isn't your fault, Alexis. Okay? Don't blame yourself. Beckett wouldn't want you beating yourself up for something you didn't do."

Alexis looked down at the cookies. She was hearing what her father was saying, but it still didn't change what she felt.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Castle said. "And then when I come out, I want to hear about your dinner with Ashley's family."

* * *

ESPOSITO rubbed his tiring eyes. He had decided to go back to the precinct after the hospital, wanting constant updates on the case. They had all come so close to losing Beckett today, and he wanted nothing more then to catch that bastard Roker, and teach him a lesson on what happens when you mess with his family.

And that's what they were. Family. Working murder cases was hard, and if he didn't have the support system he had with Beckett, Ryan, Lanie, and now even Castle, then he would have burnt out a long time ago. They leaned on each other and they supported each other through thick and thin - and that's what made it so hard when one of them got hurt.

He heard a sound of a cup being placed on the desk, and when he looked up, he noticed that Ryan was standing in front of him.

"I thought you went home, bro," Esposito said, taking the cup as a thank-you.

"I couldn't, especially since I knew you weren't going home. You've known Beckett a lot longer then I have, so I thought I'd help."

"Thanks, but you don't have to. I mean, we are pretty much sitting ducks until patrol finds them. To be honest, I don't even know what I tend to accomplish."

"Well, Castle said that Beckett said the motive was money." Ryan turned to Beckett's desk, the portfolios still on them. "Maybe the twins wrote about the motive in one of the journals we haven't read through."

"Looks like we will be pulling an all nighter," Esposito said, getting up from his desk, and walking towards Beckett's.

"Thank God Castle bought that Espresso Machine."

* * *

"DO we have a plan?" Ben Martin asked from the back seat of the Lexus, as Doctor Michael Roker drove.

"If you quit talking, then maybe I can come up with one," Roker replied, running a hand through his thinning hair.

"You stabbed a cop," Holly said. "She's probably dead."

"I had to, she knew too much," Roker explained. "Just like those adoptive kids of yours."

"How were we supposed to know they had a photographic memory?" Ben stated.

"Just shut up, will you. I'm not the one that has the most to lose. If they find the Detective's body in your house, it won't take them long to put two-and-two together. They will blame your sorry asses for her murder, and the twins."

"But we didn't kill them," Holly said, her mouth agape. "You did."

"And you two didn't stop me. That makes you accomplices. You've already sold them out to begin with. I may go to jail for a short time for illegal human experiments, but you had the most to gain with the twins being dead. Also, with a dead detective in your house, you two might even get the Death Penalty."

"That's not what happened," Ben yelled. "It's two against one."

The doctor laughed. "You had the most to lose, I don't. The twins were going to sue you for every penny that was theirs and leave you with nothing. That had to hurt."

"We didn't want them dead!" Holly tried to explain. "You said you were going to help us talk them out of suing us - and you."

"They were stubborn. You should have known they weren't going to leave alive. They would have ruined all of us."


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16**

_April 2005_

KATE quietly opened the front door of her family's townhouse and stepped inside. The television could be heard from the living room, and Kate walked slowly into the room.

Her father was sitting on the couch, a drink in his hand, and a half-empty brandy bottle beside him. This had been become expected of her father, ever since her mother had been murdered, and it broke her heart, considering her father was never really a drinker.

"Dad," She called out, and he didn't turn around to acknowledge her. "I'm home." She stayed in the same spot for a moment, before she decided to turn around and head for the shower.

"How was work?" He suddenly asked, and that made her stop and walk into the living room.

"It was okay. Mike Royce, my trainee, he says I have a lot of potential."

Jim just nodded, without saying much, instead taking another sip of his drink and downing it.

Kate knew her father was taking it hard since mom died, and she could understand his grief, because she felt it too. However, the man she was looking at wasn't her father, and he hadn't been for five years. Instead, he was just a living corpse, drowning himself in alcohol, and aging rapidly before her eyes. She had begged him to get help, but he never listened. Hell, she couldn't even remember the last time she saw him smile or heard his laugh.

She saw her father reach for the bottle again, and something inside her snapped, deciding that she had enough of this. She wanted her father back. She grabbed the bottle before he could, and held it.

"What are you doing, Katherine?" Jim asked.

"You have to stop this, Dad. Right now." Her voice was cold; the only way she knew how to get through to him.

"Give me the bottle, Katherine," He said, but she ignored him, making her way into the kitchen and grabbing bottles that contained alcohol in it out of the liquor cabinet and walked over to the sink, pouring the contents down the drain.

"Katherine!" Jim said, stumbling into the kitchen. "Stop!"

But she didn't, she walked over to the cabinet, grabbing more bottles, and wouldn't stop until everything was gone.

"This is for your own good," She said, opening another bottle.

"You don't know what's for my own good!"

She turned around and faced her father. "What I know is that every time I come home I see you drink yourself into oblivion." Tears started to stream down her face. "And that I have been _begging_ you to get help. And the worst part is, is that not only did I lose Mom, but I also lost you too."

Jim's face fell.

"I love you Dad, but I can't watch you drink yourself to death. I couldn't - I wouldn't - be able to deal. And if you love me, you won't make me go through that pain again." Her voice was desperate, and cracking from emotion.

Jim stood there for a moment, staring at his daughter, before he walked toward the liquor cabinet, grabbing one of the bottles, and looked at it longingly, as if it was a comfort; as if it was equivalent to a child's teddy bear or favorite blanket. A new wave of tears escaped Kate's eyes, and she turned around, having failed again.

However, Jim didn't drink the bottle, instead he walked over to the sink, opened it, and poured it down the sink. And he was crying.

"I'm sorry, Katie," He said, as he watched the alcohol go down the sink. "I'm sorry I failed you." He began to sob, and Kate walked over to him. He hadn't called her Katie, in five years.

She embraced her father, and once the two of them had stopped crying he turned to her.

"I'm going to try, Katie. I'm going to beat this thing. But I'm going to need help."

"I've looked into excellent rehab centers, Dad. You can beat this thing."

"I will. I will. For you, for me, and for your mother."

* * *

BECKETT stirred awake, the sun from the window hitting her eyes. It took a moment for her to adjust, and as things became clearer, she realized that she was in a hospital room, and thankful to still be alive. She remembered being surprised by Roker - not only for being at the Martin's home - but for pulling out a medium sized retractable hunting knife - and stabbing her with it before she even had a chance to react. He must have been hiding the knife in his sleeve, because she couldn't remember him reaching for one elsewhere. It was like Roker had planned all of this.

There wasn't much Beckett could do about Roker now. With her laid up in the hospital, Esposito and Ryan, along with Castle, would have to bring him in. She didn't doubt that they wouldn't catch the guy, but a part of her wanted to be the one to nail Roker.

She turned her attention to her father, who was sleeping, albeit uncomfortably, on the chair, and she smiled to herself. Only her father would spend the night in the hospital with her, and she had no doubt that he gave the staff a hard time to stay. If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that Beckett's were stubborn.

However, her smile disappeared quickly. In a small way, she felt guilty. Becoming a police officer for the purpose of finding her mother's killer, and making sure no other family had to live with not knowing was her way of dealing with her grief. Her father had turned to alcohol, and was slowly drinking himself to death, while she had voluntarily put herself in dangerous situations, where at any moment something could go wrong. Being stabbed wasn't the first time her life had been in peril. Dunn had almost come close to killing her by blowing up her apartment, but she had only suffered minor injuries in that explosion. She had even been shot at before, one time taking a bullet to the chest as a rookie cop, but her Kevlar vest had stopped the bullet, and the only thing she had as a reminder from that incident was the sudden wind getting knocked out of her, and a nasty bruise that lasted a couple of weeks.

She had never told her father about the bullet incident, and even when her apartment exploded she had downplayed the seriousness of that situation in order to spare him. However, she couldn't spare him from this, or downplay the seriousness. She had been hurt badly and was fighting for her life.

She kind of wished Castle was here. He had a way with words, and could probably do a better job at telling her father that she was okay, and that he didn't have to worry.

Her father began to stir awake, and she smiled at him again as his eyes began to open. It only took a second for him to adjust, and he was quickly by her side.

"Hey, honey, how are you feeling?" He asked, bring the chair closer to her.

"I'm good. A little sore," She replied. Her abdomen was still a little tender, and it hurt when she touched it. "But I should be back to work in no time."

"Your health is more important then work," Jim said. "And besides, I don't think your Captain will even let you back so soon." Beckett frowned inwardly, and Jim saw that. "Oh come on, think of it as a mini-vacation. I know this excellent Bed and Breakfast."

"Let me guess, it's called Chez Beckett?" Beckett said.

Her father nodded his head, while the both of them shared a quick laugh, however Beckett stopped abruptly, wincing in pain, and touching her stomach.

Jim took a serious tone in his voice. "You really had me worried, Katie."

"I know, and I'm sorry." And she really was.

"I wouldn't know what I would do if I lost you," He added. "I don't think I could handle it."

Beckett remembered having this conversation before, only the roles were reversed. And for the first time, there was an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach that wasn't caused by her recent knife wound.

There was a small knock on the door, and both Beckett and Jim turned to face the door. Castle was there holding a large array of flowers, with a Get Well Soon balloon sticking out of it.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," Castle said, as Jim made room on the desk to place the flowers down. He was also holding a tray of coffee.

"I thought you could use one of these," He said to Jim, who gratefully took the cup.

"You didn't have to bring me flowers, Castle," Beckett said. "But thank-you, they are beautiful."

"Don't thank just me. Alexis spent all last night looking at the perfect flower basket."

"Alexis?" Jim asked.

Castle turned to face him. "She's my daughter. Teenager."

Jim nodded his head. "I remember when Katie was a teenager. Everyday I threatened to send her to a nunnery."

"Over a motorcycle," Beckett reminded.

Jim walked over to Beckett. "I'm going to go home and take a shower. I'll be back later, okay?" Beckett nodded, and he kissed her forehead. He then turned to Castle. "Thanks for the coffee."

"No problem," Castle said, and took the seat Jim was occupying.

"When you come back, bring me back a cheeseburger," Beckett said, as her father was just about to leave the room. "And fries."

"Goodbye, Katie," He said, waving as he left. Beckett made sure he was gone, before she turned to Castle, a serious look on her face.

"Castle, you remember how you said that if anything were to happen to you, you asked me to watch out for Alexis."

Castle nodded his head, not sure where this conversation was going.

"Well, if anything were to happen to me, and I don't make it, can you promise me that you will look out for my Dad for me? I don't want him to self-destruct like he did when my mother died."

"Okay," Castle said, still a little dumbfounded.

There was urgency in her voice. "Promise me, Castle."

"I promise."

* * *

THE all nighter Esposito and Ryan pulled didn't turn up much, other then that the twins, having got the money from the lawsuit, were planning on setting up a trust fund for their adoptive brother Thomas, and giving some money to their friend Xander, and Aunt Tanya. Other then that, it never mentioned where Doctor Roker might be keeping the Project Files from the time he experimented on the twins, and they really needed that piece of evidence.

The two detectives had called it a night half way through, deciding to sleep in the break room. Ryan once remembered his training officer say it was always good to keep a clean pair of clothes and other toiletries in your locker, and at first he thought it was silly; that he'd never spend the night at the precinct, but it had become common, and he was always thankful for the fresh pair of clothes.

He was just finishing buttoning up his shirt, when he saw Castle enter the precinct.

"Morning Castle," Ryan said, and Castle waved.

"Went to see Beckett this morning," Castle said. "She's doing good. Back to her old self. Rolled her eyes at me constantly throughout my visit."

"That's good to hear," Ryan said, happy that his friend pulled through.

"Lanie is with her now for a bit."

Esposito suddenly came into the room. "Guess who just arrived in our precinct?"

Ryan and Castle exchanged glances.

"The Martin's," Esposito answered.

"With Roker?" Ryan asked, but Esposito just shook his head.

"They want to talk to us. Now."

* * *

THE Martin's looked uncomfortable as they sat in the interrogation room. If Castle had to guess, the Martin's would have never, in a million years, ever thought that they would end up in a situation like this - after all, they did look like good people.

Castle watched from the one-way mirror as Esposito and Ryan entered the room. They wanted this interrogation to be intimidating, and Castle knew just how intimidating Esposito could be.

"Where's Roker?" Esposito asked first, roughly putting himself in one of the chairs, Ryan doing the same but in a gentler way.

Holly spoke first. "We don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Esposito asked.

"We don't know. He pulled in at a gas station to fill up. We went to use the restroom, and when we got back he was gone," Ben tried to explain.

"He abandoned you?" Ryan asked, and the Martin's both nodded.

"He could be anywhere," Ben added.

"Tell us about the murders," Esposito said, changing to focus. "Why did you kill your daughters?"

"We didn't kill them," Ben said, and his voice changed. "The plan was just to talk to them."

"About what?" Ryan asked, and Ben decided to focus his attention on Ryan.

"We wanted to talk to them about reconsidering suing us. They had remembered the surgery when they were little, and wanted to get back at us."

"That must have made you two angry," Ryan said.

"It was a shock. I mean, we gave them everything"-

"Except love," Esposito interrupted.

Ben was getting angry. "That's not true! We loved them. We did."

"We were desperate okay? If we had known that Adria and Lara would inherit a fortune we would have never sold them out!" Holly added.

"So that makes it okay?" Esposito scoffed.

"No. Of course not. We felt bad for what we did to them. And we really did want kids, it's just without the $200,000 we would have been homeless."

Esposito tried hard to hide his disgust. "Tell us about Roker."

"The twins found the doctor, threatened to take everything away from him too. Roker contacted us, saying that he knew how he could get the girls to reconsider," Ben began.

"That day, we followed them to the mall, and then to a woman's house. After that, we stopped them on the street," Holly continued.

"They were upset we followed them, but we got them to get into the car," Ben added.

"Instead of taking them home, we took them to an address Roker gave us. It was an old office building."

"They asked us what we were doing here, and then Roker came out. They said 'I can't believe you sold us out, again.'" Ben's lip trembled.

"We had no idea Roker was going to kill them. It all happened so fast," Holly said.

"Tell us what happened," Ryan pressed.

"We tried talking to them, Ben and I. But they were having none of it. And they said they couldn't wait to see Roker lose everything. And then they headed for the door, but Roker came up behind them and stabbed Adria first, and then Lara."

"And he continued to stab them until they were dead."

"Why didn't you stop him?" Esposito asked.

"We couldn't! It all happened so fast. And he said if we didn't help him clean up, he'd kill Thomas. Roker said this was for all of us."

"So you are willing to protect your own son, but two adoptive daughters - you sell them out?" Esposito shook his head.

"We were afraid. We didn't want him to kill them, and we didn't want to lose Thomas either."

"More like you didn't want to lose millions," Esposito corrected.

"We wanted to go to the police," Ben stressed. "But he had us under duress."

"I don't buy that, and neither will a jury," Esposito said.

Ben clenched his fists. "I don't care what you buy or not. We are willing to pay for our crimes. Give us a paper and we will say that we were there when Adria and Lara got stabbed." He unclenched his fists, taking a breath to calm down.

"We didn't want any of this to happen," He said. "When Detective Beckett came to the door, I told her this was a bad time, but she insisted. We didn't think he would kill her too."

Esposito and Ryan exchanged looks. The Martin's thought that Beckett was dead.

"When I led the Detective in the living room where Holly was, Roker was gone. I didn't know where he went. She then started talking about what she knew, and asking us questions and we knew it was only a matter of time before she figured everything out. That was when Roker came out from the kitchen area and approached the Detective. He taunted her, asked her to prove it, and she smiled and said she already had."

"He then pulled a knife from his sleeve, like he had done with Adria and Lara and stabbed her. He then told us to follow him," Holly said.

"While he was driving we asked what his plan was, but he didn't seem to have one."

Esposito and Ryan looked at each other again. They had confessed to everything.

Castle stopped listening to the conversation, as Ryan and Esposito gathered everything for the Martin's confession. He was still a little bit skeptical on whether or not the Martin's were telling the truth, after all, Beckett had said the Martin's were in on it, but he wasn't sure if she meant they were there when Roker killed the girls, or actually helped subdue the twin girls while Roker killed them.

That didn't matter too much though. The Martin's would still be going to prison for what they had done to the girls. What they needed was Roker, but he was still on the run, and possibly the most dangerous of them all.


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER 17**

CASTLE waited for Esposito and Ryan in the Bullpen. Every second that Roker was not in police custody set him on edge. He wanted to go out and find the twisted doctor himself, until he remembered that he wasn't actually a cop.

Ryan was the first one to come back into the Bullpen. Normally when an arrest was made, and a confession was signed, the team celebrated by cracking open a few cold ones and ordering three different kinds of pizzas from a small joint named Giovanni's, that was inclined to give they NYPD discounts. However, tonight the only thing they would be cracking were leads on Roker's possible whereabouts.

Ryan looked at Castle and said, "Please tell me you are frustrated, because I am frustrated."

Castle nodded his head, letting out a tired sigh. The Martin's had given Esposito and Ryan some locations that they thought Roker might go. However patrol units stationed outside his home, his office, and his other small private buildings have turned up nothing, and if he had to guess where Roker was headed, it was probably into New Jersey.

In a way, Roker intrigued Castle. The doctor was blessed with brains, and had a good family and life. Normally when people commit crime they do it because they are socially disadvantaged, but Roker literally had the American Dream, and Castle wanted - no - needed to know what had made him tick.

Castle closed his eyes, and tried to think of what he would do if Roker were a baddie in one of his novels. Obviously Roker was a smart man, so common and known places like home and work would be out of the question. A vacation home somewhere close, but not to far, would be a safe bet, however if the police were looking into Roker, they would have checked all property in his name.

Unless it was a secret.

Castle opened his eyes, turning to Ryan to explain his big revelation. "What if he has property that he keeps secret from his wife."

Ryan latched on to this idea.

"A rich man like that is bound to put something away in case his wife decided to leave him. One less thing he has to split if they get a divorce," Castle added.

"No good, bro," Esposito said, joining Ryan and Castle back in the Bullpen. "Spoke with the wife. They both signed pre-nups."

"Doesn't mean he can't keep something secret," Ryan said.

"She was pretty adamant that they shared everything," Esposito said. "But then again, she also couldn't believe he killed two people and attacked a cop."

"It's worth looking into," Castle said, and within moments Ryan had pulled up Roker's financial records. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No suspicious withdraws, and all the checks deposited had the same amount of money.

Esposito sighed. "How can it be that when we actually know who the killer is, we are hitting even more road blocks?"

"Bad luck," Ryan said.

Esposito turned to Castle. "Usually at this point you have a stroke of genius that helps solve the case, or find what we are looking for."

Normally, Castle would have relished at the compliment, however when inspiration usually hit, Beckett was always with him, and they both bounced ideas off of each other.

The three of them turned to see Captain Montgomery stepping out of his office, making his way towards them.

"You three have been looking at this case long enough," Montgomery began. "Go home. Grab some dinner and get some rest. Patrol will find him."

If Beckett were here, she would have protested - vowing not to rest until Roker was snug in a cell with a heavily tattooed inmate named Ernesto (okay, Castle made that last part up), and the three of them wanted to continue working, but they were tired and hungry.

"Go home," The Captain said again. "Come back tomorrow with fresh eyes."

And that's exactly what they did.

* * *

CASTLE arrived home just in time for dinner. Alexis was busy setting the table, as Martha put the finishing touches on her dish.

This was the second time Martha had cooked a spontaneous meal that smelled absolutely delicious.

"Martha Stewart look out," Castle joked, joining his ladies in the kitchen. "Martha Rodgers is taking over."

Martha turned to face her son. "You are too kind with the compliments, but I am in no way, Martha Stewart."

Castle nodded his head in agreement. "Your right. You didn't embezzle lots of people out of millions...only me."

"Dad!" Alexis said, shocked.

"Ignore your father, Alexis. He thinks he's funny." Martha took the pot off the stove and made her way to the table with it, scooping the rice, veggies and cut up chicken on each of the plates.

"Did you see Kate today?" Alexis asked, once everyone was settled down, and started eating. There were still traces of guilt in her voice. She admired Kate, and still felt responsible for her getting injured.

"Yes, and she is doing a lot better, and she loved the flowers," Castle answered.

"That's wonderful," Martha said between forkfuls.

Castle nodded, and then turned to Alexis. "I also told her you blame yourself for her getting injured. She said she would be really upset at you if you continue to blame yourself. It wasn't you fault."

Alexis looked down at her food.

"Speaking about the case, are you any closer to finding the three of them?" Martha asked.

"In a surprise twist, the twins parents turned themselves in this afternoon."

"And the doctor?" Alexis asked.

"Still out in the wind. He apparently abandoned the Martin's at a gas station."

Martha wiped her mouth with a napkin, and then said, "Maybe the Martin's were holding them back. After all, they have been on the run for a day."

Castle knew that was a possibility. "I know, but still, something just doesn't seem right. I mean, he went out of his way to cover his tracks over the illegal human experiments - that's what got the twins in the first place. Leaving so sudden, it just doesn't make sense."

"He could have thought the Martin's would continue running," Martha suggested.

"Or maybe he saw something more important to him," Alexis added.

Martha turned to look at her before saying, "At a gas station?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"Darling, I think we best leave the thinking to the detectives," Martha said, and both girls exchanged a laugh.

Castle looked down, mixing the food around on his plate. Throughout the rest of dinner, while he half-listened to his mother's acting class teachings and cooking endeavors, and Alexis's school obligations and her boyfriend, Ashley, the only thing he could think about was where Roker was, and how they were going to find him.

* * *

_BECKETT walked through the Bullpen of the NYPD, making her way to her desk. She casually waved at Esposito and Ryan, but they were too preoccupied with playing a new game with each other to even notice. Not that she minded, after all, boys will be boys. _

_ She sat down at her desk, turning her computer monitor on, wondering where Castle was with her coffee. It wasn't like him to be this late. She shrugged it off, focusing on her paper work that had mounted on her desk. Normally she would be on top of this, and she couldn't believe how much she had put off. _

_ She was about to grab the first folder, when a coffee cup was placed in front of her. She smiled to herself, and while starting to look up, she said, "About time Cas-"_

_ She cut herself off, her expression quickly changing. Castle hadn't brought her the coffee. In fact, Castle wasn't even there. Instead, it was a middle-aged woman, with reddish-brown hair, with a smile that paralleled a December night in New York. _

_ Beckett looked past the woman, and at Ryan and Esposito, who were still playing their game, again completely oblivious. _

_ "Mom?" Beckett said slowly, and Johanna took the seat Castle usually sat in. "What are you doing here?"_

_ "I came to check on how you were doing," Johanna said. _

_ "But you're...dead..." Beckett replied, her voice soft, and Johanna just laughed. _

_ "You're just like your father," She said, and then grabbed her daughter's arm. "I have something important I want to tell you." _

_ Beckett looked down at her mother's hand, and then back at her mother, couldn't believe this was actually happening. _

_ "Wake up," Was all Johanna said. _

_ "What?" Beckett asked, confused, as she watched her mother's lips repeat those same two-words over and over again, but this time the sound was coming in muffled. _

_ "Katie! WAKE. UP." _

* * *

BECKETT'S eyes suddenly flew wide open, and it took her a minute to remember that she was still in the hospital, and from how dark her room was, she guessed it was sometime in the middle of the night. It was only after she had fully awoken from her weird dream that she realized something was off.

That she wasn't alone.

In the shadows, she could make out a silhouette of a person, and she wondered who it could be - a nurse - maybe - or a doctor. _'Did doctors even do night rounds?'_ She thought.

There was a small glint of metal - from what she presumed to be her medical chart that reflected off the moon and as the silhouette came closer, she recognized who it was, without ever seeing their face.

It most definitely was a doctor, just not the good ones.

The silhouette smiled, and in the most eeriest voice, Dr. Roker said, "Hello, Katherine Beckett."


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER 18**

BECKETT froze for a second - a mixture of the morphine she was on for the pain, and her utter shock at seeing Roker inhibiting her judgment - before she hurriedly looked for the nurse call button. While she was frantically looking for it, Dr. Roker just laughed, and that's when she noticed he was holding it in his hand, having pulled it from her bedside.

"Looking for this?" Roker asked, twirling it in his hand.

"What are you doing here, Roker?" She asked, putting a hand to her now sore stomach as she sat up in her bed.

"I came to finish what I started," He said, now walking closer to her. She now had a good look at his face. She was surprised he even made it into the hospital.

She saw him pull out a syringe from his pocket, throwing the call button on the floor. She may not have had the call button, but she still had her voice. She was just about to scream, when Roker noticed, and his hand covered her mouth so quickly that the only thing she felt was his full weight as he forced her back down on the bed.

"Shut up!" He whispered loud enough, but Beckett was a fighter, and she struggled with him, flailing her legs and arms, until she could find an opening and hit him with it.

"Stop moving, bitch!" He said, and in that moment of distraction, Beckett was able to kick him off of her, however the momentum of the kick sent her rolling off the side of the bed, and landing flat on the ground.

Beckett quickly forced herself to get up, putting a hand to her abdomen. The struggle had caused her to pull her stitches, and now she could feel her warm blood seeping through her bandage, as pain coursed through her body. _'Great,_' She thought, as if things couldn't get any worse.

But they were. Roker didn't need much time to recuperate from her kick, and he started making his way around the bed. She was now cornered and bleeding.

He quickly grabbed her by the throat, causing her to hit her head against the wall. He then pulled her up and he started to choke her. She grasped at his hands, trying to pull them off of her, but he was stronger, and the more she resisted, the tighter he squeezed. She was losing oxygen quickly, and she saw him fumble for that same syringe that was empty.

"This is how you are going to die, Katherine," Roker taunted. "By a nice air embolism." He stuck the pulled-back syringe in her upper arm, but before he could press it down, Beckett saw what looked like blue electricity come from behind, causing Roker to involuntarily let go and fall to the ground, unconscious.

Beckett gasped for breath, allowing her body to slide down the wall, and she looked up to see the person who had helped her.

"Beckett, are you alright?" Castle asked, and she just nodded, pulling out the syringe from her arm, and rubbing her sore neck.

Castle walked over to the lights and turned them on, his eyes widening when he noticed Beckett was bleeding. He quickly ran out into the hall, calling for a nurse and instructing them to get security as well as the police, before returning back into the room.

"How'd...how'd you know?" Beckett asked.

"Something my Mother and Alexis said over dinner. Roker stopped at a gas station - they have newspapers at a gas station. The Martin's believed Roker had killed you, and a cop's death would certainly make front page. I figured he might pay you a visit if he knew you weren't dead."

Beckett nodded her head, and then looked at the taser he was carrying.

"Well, just in case he was here, I thought I would come prepared," Castle answered, looking at the taser he bought on a whim a while ago because he had to have it. He remembered his Mother calling him childish - always having to have the latest gadgets - but in this case, his taser had saved Beckett's life.

It didn't take long for a nurse, and eventually a doctor, to attend to Beckett, while security restrained Roker until Ryan and Esposito showed up to arrest him. Castle was glad this was finally over. Roker would be spending the rest of his life in jail, where he belonged, and Castle couldn't have been happier.

He was waiting outside Beckett's hospital room, refusing to leave until he knew for certain she was okay, and once the doctor was finished stitching her up again, he entered the room. She was still awake, but Castle could tell she was tired.

"I'd say thank-you, but I have a feeling you like rescuing the damsel in distress," Beckett joked, with a small smile on her face.

"You a damsel? Nah." Castle pulled up a chair beside her. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," She responded, and slightly shifted herself to get more comfortable on the hospital bed, though she wasn't entirely sure if that was even possible.

"You'll be glad to know Roker is taken care of. He won't be seeing the outside of a jail in, like, forever."

"That's good," Beckett said, her voice starting to drift, as her eyes began to close, and within a moment, Castle could hear Beckett's subtle change in her breathing as she had fallen asleep.

He didn't stay long after that, deciding himself to go home and get some rest as well. The case was finally closed, and he had a feeling that Adria and Lara were finally resting in peace.


	19. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER 19**

THE elevator doors to the 12th Precinct's Bullpen opened and Beckett stepped out, glad to be back to work from her almost one month long hiatus recuperating from a knife wound to her stomach.

She walked over to her desk, everything how she had left it, and she ran her fingers on the solid oak desk. She really missed being here.

"Afternoon Detective," Captain Montgomery said. He saw Beckett come in from his office window. "Couldn't wait until tomorrow morning?"

The truth was even though Beckett appreciated the time off; she had become bored staying at home. There were only so many soap operas she could watch, and if she had to sit through another afternoon of cheating spouses, and mother-daughter betrayals, she knew she would absolutely lose it.

"It's good to have you back," Montgomery continued, sparing Beckett from answering his question.

Beckett looked around the Bullpen quickly and then asked, "Where are Esposito and Ryan?" Thinking they were out working a homicide.

"They're in the break room with Castle," Montgomery answered.

"Castle's here?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, while you were out he was shadowing Esposito and Ryan."

Beckett grinned. "Is he deciding to base his next novel on them?"

"Unfortunately Detective, I still think Nikki Heat is his number one priority."

Beckett smiled. She wasn't ready to give up Castle just yet.

"You coming to the break room? Guys would be really happy to see you."

Beckett nodded and then followed Montgomery toward the break room. As soon as he opened the door, a loud 'Surprise!' was heard that took Beckett aback. The break room was decorated nicely with balloons and streamers, and a sign that read 'Welcome Back Detective Beckett' hung loosely from the walls. Castle, Ryan, Esposito and even Lanie were all in the room, welcoming her back.

Castle stepped aside from the table, revealing her favorite belgium chocolate cake, and in purple writing it read 'We missed you'.

"You guys," Beckett said, looking around the room. She was touched by their kindness. "How'd you even know I was going to be here?"

"We're Detectives," Ryan said.

"We called your Dad," Esposito answered, and Beckett laughed. She should have known better. Ryan and Esposito had done that before. "He told us you told him you were planning on coming in this afternoon."

"Well this is really lovely. Thank you," Beckett said.

"It's nothing," Lanie said, walking up to her and giving her a hug. "Besides, now that you are back, the less I have to deal with Johnson and McKenna."

"I can always punch them for you," Beckett joked, and she took a seat.

Castle came up beside her, placing a gift bag in front of her. Beckett turned to look at him.

"We all chipped in and got you something as a welcome back gift," Castle said, with a smile on his face.

"No, you guys, you didn't have to. I wasn't even gone long."

"Just open it," Castle said.

Beckett exchanged looks between her friends that had become more like family to her, and then reluctantly grabbed the bag, placing it on her lap. Knowing Castle, Ryan and Esposito, it was probably a little in house humor, and she couldn't help but smile.

She started to move the copious amounts of tissue paper that had been stuffed in the bag. However, her smile quickly faded once she saw the bags contents, and she lifted up her head to look at her friends, and then back down again at the black and white picture of her parents smiling back at her, that was attached to her jewelry box.

She slowly pulled out the box, and placed it on the table, hesitating for a moment before she opened it. Her father's watch, and her mother's ring on her necklace chain, was exactly how she left it, and she ran a trembling hand through the items. She had honestly thought she would never see these again - that they were gone forever.

"How'd-" Beckett began to ask, but she stopped herself.

"When we heard your stuff got stolen, we all looked at pawnshops in New York, and we each volunteered to look after two of them, to see if whoever stole your stuff would try and pawn it off," Castle answered. "We gave the pawn shop owners a description of the box and we offered to match the price he sold the box for plus some, if everything was intact."

"One of the pawn shops I was looking after received the box," Esposito said. "He called and I went to pick it up."

"Not only that, but the owner also gave a description of the robber, so he is now in custody," Ryan said.

"I can't believe this - this is - thank you. It means a lot."

"We know it does, sweetie," Lanie said.

"Aren't you going to put them on?" Castle asked, and Beckett turned back to the box and grabbed her father's watch and placed it on. She then grabbed her mother's ring on the chain, gingerly touching it, before she slipped it around her neck. It felt good to have it on again.

She turned to look at Castle, who was smiling at her; glad she had him in her life.

* * *

END


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